Why Coaches in the NBA Are Being Scapegoated and Deserve Better
In the last few years, NBA coaching has been a tumultuous journey, marked by intense scrutiny and increasingly shorter tenures. This trend is evident in the recent dismissals of coaches, including J.B. Bickerstaff, Darvin Ham, and Frank Vogel, who are often unfairly scapegoated for broader institutional failures. The role of an NBA coach is not for the faint-hearted. It demands strategic thinking, strong leadership qualities, and the ability to manage diverse personalities and egos within a fiercely competitive environment. Yet, despite these challenges, they are frequently held solely accountable for team performance, even when many factors are beyond their control.
A typical case of a coach being blamed for issues he had no control over is J.B. Bickerstaff’s time at the Cleveland Cavaliers. When he took on his role, the Cavaliers were rebuilding and had a very young team with little experience. He nonetheless encouraged them to be competitive while helping Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen, and Evan Mobley develop as critical members of his squad. Garland was named an All-Star a few years ago and still has room for improvement, while Mobley displayed signs of becoming their franchise player. This motivated the players to take up the defense, building up better players yearly, according to a coach who believed in each player’s development. The problem was when some leading performers were injured, played inconsistently for a time, or performed as if it was not yet their time to shine upon the planet basketball court like this Cavs, which are still pretty raw and unprepared for such world tournaments. Sometimes, Bickerstaff could not have changed these circumstances, but he was always held responsible for the lack of progress into playoffs from the franchise during that period. Therefore, this dismissal seems insensitive and shows a narrow vision since it did not recognize this developmental process where, bit by bit, this new culture of work had been created within Cleveland’s camp. Getting to the Eastern Conference Semifinals and facing the best team in the league this year without your best player, Donovan Mitchell, for Games Four and Five is still a huge success.
Darvin Ham’s situation with the Los Angeles Lakers underlines how coaches of high-profile teams are put under a lot of pressure and unrealistic demands. His hiring came with an expectation that he would help the team regain its lost glory, but from the get-go, there have been many obstacles in his path. With a roster fronted by aging superstars such as LeBron James and Anthony Davis yet marred by injuries and thin on depth, Ham had trouble implementing his strategies as desired. Notwithstanding these impediments, Ham struggled to instill his focus on defense and promote better team unity. Nevertheless, frequent player absences and an unbalanced playing squad made it hard for him to achieve uniform outcomes. Instead of addressing structural problems that hindered the team’s performance, management fired him, citing misplaced blame on him as a coach. Thus, this firing underscores the need to look at issues affecting teams more broadly and foster support, especially during difficult moments of their coaches’ tenure. Signing up for the franchise's history is incredibly challenging for a team like the Lakers.
The Phoenix Suns' termination of coach Frank Vogel is another instance of a coach being used as a scapegoat for problems that transcend beyond coaching. Vogel was brought in to manage a Suns squad that had great expectations. Vogel is an experienced coach with a championship background. Vogel had several obstacles, even with a talented group that included players like Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, and Bradley Beal. The Suns had a top-heavy squad that relied heavily on its elite players and lacked depth to back them up. Critical player injuries made Vogel's job even more complex and interfered with the team's productivity. In addition, there was a lot of pressure to provide results immediately because of the high expectations that followed the team's prior success. While Vogel did an excellent job juggling players' workloads, handling injuries, and integrating new players, his coaching was frequently blamed for the team's problems. Vogel's firing indicates a need to understand the intricate interactions between various elements that affect a team's success. It draws attention to the propensity of organizations to look for band-aid solutions instead of dealing with fundamental problems like roster composition, player health, and long-term strategic planning. Giving him only one year with this current roster is hard to comprehend.
The dismissals of J.B. Bickerstaff, Darvin Ham, and Frank Vogel highlight a concerning trend in the NBA that coaches are frequently held accountable for more significant organizational shortcomings. These choices overlook the various difficulties coaches face, such as injuries, imbalances in the roster, irrational expectations, and outside influences. NBA clubs must take a more thorough approach to performance evaluation, appreciating the value of consistency, endurance, and long-term strategy. By doing this, they may establish a setting that encourages long-term success and growth by giving coaches the freedom to manage their teams successfully.
