That’s how the news got out, a bit of bad form that should earn the franchise a new nickname — consider them the Tweet-Wolves now. Beyond the style, though, there’s this substance: McHale did a pretty good job as coach over the final 63 games of the 2008-09 season. Certainly respectable (13-18 with Al Jefferson in the lineup, 20-43 overall) given the team’s 6-13 mark when he took over for Randy Wittman…
Politics matter. In this case, it is office politics. The belief within the basketball department — and in various corners of the NBA, too — is that front-office maneuverings are dictating the Wolves’ decisions these days. The team’s CEO, Rob Moor, is one of Taylor’s two sons-in-law working in executive capacities. Moor took a larger role in Kahn’s recruiting and hiring. Previously, he also never had much clout with the basketball side, with McHale & Co. routinely bypassing him in dealing directly with Taylor, and that didn’t necessarily stop when McHale was “demoted” to the bench in December, his executive privileges allegedly curtailed. That bit back Wednesday.
This franchise is struggling. A new GM brings new hope. But the change had to go beyond that. The coach had to go, too. And some of these players are going to have to go. This was no time for partial measures. Again, I thought McHale was solid behind the bench. But the organization had to make a break. The only thing it has to sell to the public right now is change.
Kahn took so long to make a decision, really stretched it out, as sort of a sign of respect to McHale. Yet I can’t believe he ever seriously considered keeping him.
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