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Nuggets prove times have changed
Updated: Wednesday December 13, 2000 5:27 PM
The situation in Denver is a good indication that times have changed. I'm sure guys have been chewed out before, and everybody still showed up for practice the next day and were willing to play the next game. Obviously, there was more to Monday's skipped practice than Nuggets head coach Dan Issel's yelling at center Raef LaFrentz. But no matter what led to the players' decision, I've never heard of guys just not showing up for practice. And the talk of boycotting a game was a huge surprise, particularly because these players haven't accomplished a lot in their careers. In the old days, Red Auerbach would have been on the phone and they would have been traded by now. But things don't happen that way today. The situation now is that if a coach can't relate to or get along with his top players, he's not long for the job, and the responsibility for this environment falls on the owners. In many cases, owners will ask the players' opinions on things, and give the players a lot of say in how things are run. But the players should just play. Philadelphia's Pat Croce is a good example of how a strong owner can resolve this kind of situation. Croce is actively involved in the Sixers' daily operations, and he got involved in the rift between head coach Larry Brown and All-Star guard Allen Iverson.
Croce first gave Brown a contract extension, and then the word got out this summer that the team was trying to trade Iverson. Iverson got the message, and things are different this year. But there aren't many owners who are willing to take that kind of stand. In most cases, if someone told their boss they weren't coming to work, they would get fired. In this case -- because of the salaries and the guaranteed contracts -- the boss may get fired.
Mavs shouldn't miss a beat during coaching transitionOver in Dallas, the Mavericks are going to be without their head coach for very different reasons. Don Nelson, who was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer, is taking a leave of absence to focus on his health. And while the players certainly will have Nellie in their thoughts, the transition to assistant coach Del Harris should be a smooth one. Dallas is very fortunate to have Harris ready to step in. He's an experienced coach who's been in the league a long time, has had some success and knows the game well. Even though Harris has served as an assistant to Nellie a couple of times, the players will go through a bit of an adjustment, because all coaches have their own ways of doing things. But this is a young club, the players work hard and they're very competitive, so I don't think it will be much of a problem. The big key is how long Nellie is going to be out. Harris is a terrific coach, but I'd like to see Nellie back soon.
More evidence that East is leastThe strength of the West is evident even in the second-tier teams. The Clippers, Warriors and Grizzlies are faring much better this season than their counterparts in the East -- the Bulls, Hawks and Wizards. In fact, the Clippers are going to be heard from before the year is out. I don't know how far they will go because they're so young, but they have an awfully talented group. On Monday, they handled the Magic like they were nothing, and as the year goes on, they'll get better and better. Golden State has Antawn Jamison and Larry Hughes -- they've got a good future -- and Vancouver is playing better basketball. Meanwhile, Atlanta, Chicago and Washington are really down. But that's not the worst of it for the East. There are only two teams that try to run in that conference -- Detroit and Boston. Outside of that, everybody slows the game down, and it makes for very boring basketball.
Kevin Loughery is a former NBA player and head coach. He appears each Sunday on CNN's This Week
in the NBA.
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