The pressure on NBA coaches can be intense. They are the easiest scapegoats in the NBA for many reasons. It's easier to replace a coach than a player or two after a tough season because their contract number doesn't count against the salary cap. You can also have the interoffice politics of a general manager or president of basketball operations looking to save their own job by promising an owner the team is a coaching change away from being where they want to be.
The pressure on front office executives can also be severe. While they have the guise of being able to peg blame on players or coaches, one bad move can set a franchise back for years. If you miss on a draft pick or sign a free agent that isn't all you are investing in him to be, you can be saddled with a player who doesn't add to the championship march you're trying to execute. And owners only have so much patience in these investments if they're not yielding results. Eventually, the executive has to go after so many chances to troubleshoot the problem they've probably created.
So what would compel someone to want the pressure of both jobs at the same time? Why would you want the basketball czar position in the NBA? As NFL coaching legend Bill Parcells once said, "If I'm going to be asked to cook the meal, I'd like to be able to pick the groceries." Having uniformity with the philosophy of the vision of the roster and how it executes on the court is one of the main keys to organizational success. You want everybody on the same page from the front office to the sidelines to the players.
While it sounds good in theory, the reality is you're taking two full-time, high-pressure jobs and having one person devote their time to it. In-season, you can delegate day-to-day executive duties to assistants in the front office, allowing you to focus on coaching. Transactions can crop up here and there. The trade deadline is something that must be dealt with in the moment if you're in position to improve your team. However, doing your due diligence to call around for available players may not fit into the already tight coaching schedule.
The coaching schedule can be finessed on the fly. You can adjust how much your team practices based on the playing schedule, the reality of how the travel is executed from city to city, and by judging whether your team can really benefit from taking tomorrow off from practice. That doesn't stop a basketball czar from having to figure out coaching adjustments and help create game plans from night to night. Coaching already leads to sleepless nights and over obsession, so adding the position of running the team in the front office makes for an impacted existence. It's an overwhelming job that so few are able to excel at consistently.
It's a tough balance to find and not everybody is cut out for it. Even some of the best coaches in the league don't want the responsibility of buying their own groceries. Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle told Steve Aschburner he wants to concentrate on coaching, but he is impressed by the ability of some coaches being able to do it. He understands the allure of an owner wanting the two positions to be one.
“In my case, I’m not looking to do that. I love my owner [Mark Cuban] and I love my GM [Donnie Nelson] — my GM and I go back 30 years as friends,” Carlisle said. “I want to concentrate on my craft. But I applaud these other guys for taking on the other responsibility.
“If you get a great coach like Gregg Popovich or Doc Rivers or Stan Van Gundy and you have the opportunity to meld those two positions into one guy who is high-quality in so many areas, if you’re an owner, you should go for that. More than anything, it’s pointing to the vortex of the connection between the coach and GM. The fact that some owners are looking at this and saying, ‘These two jobs should be one and the same’ highlights the importance of coaching.”
In the history of professional basketball, there have been plenty of successful coaches who also have the player personnel responsibility. The most successful was Red Auerbach, serving as coach and general manager from 1950 to 1966 with the Boston Celtics. He won nine titles in this role before resigning from coaching following the 1966 championship. It was a much simpler duty back then as coaching and being the general manager weren't nearly as involved as the overly analyzed nature of today's respective duties. Red Holzman did the same thing with the New York Knicks from 1970 to 1975.
Frank Layden balanced the job well for the Utah Jazz during the 1980s before finding Jerry Sloan as the perfect coach for his team. Don Nelson held executive and coaching positions for three different organizations with the Milwaukee Bucks, Golden State Warriors, and Dallas Mavericks ranging from 1976 to 2005. Pat Riley has been the president of the Miami Heat since 1995 with two different coaching stints for them.
You've had brief success with the coaching and executive duties here and there over the last 20 years. Larry Brown served the dual role with the Philadelphia 76ers during the Allen Iverson era and Larry Bird was the vice president and coach of the Indiana Pacers from 1998-2000. You've also had some real flops in the double role like Bernie Bickerstaff as the coach/general manager for the Charlotte Bobcats from 2004-07, John Calipari as vice president/coach for the New Jersey Nets from 1996-99, Rick Pitino with the Celtics from 1997-2001, and Isiah Thomas taking over his mess of a roster on the sidelines from 2006-08.
Over the last year or so, we went from having just one basketball czar in the NBA to upwards of six basketball czars this season. The interesting part of it are two coaches are basketball czars by almost default, one is in the process of a rebuild, one is desperate to get his new team back to the playoffs, one is trying to become a basketball contender, and one is at the top of the coaching game altogether.
BASKETBALL CZARS TO BE?
Jason Kidd
Team: Milwaukee Bucks
Official title: Coach
Comment: With the failed power play by Jason Kidd in Brooklyn that led to him fleeing the Nets for an old business associate who also happens to be the new co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks, a lot of people aren't buying that the new coach of the Bucks doesn't have significant say in player personnel. John Hammond is the general manager of the team and was signed to a three-year extension in 2013 that has him in Milwaukee through the 2015-16 season. However, Kidd is believed to be trusted in collaborating on the decisions more than your typical new coach may be trusted.
The rebuilding Bucks giving Kidd an extra title after a year or two of coaching the team to make it an official capacity is expected in Milwaukee. Keeping the title to just head coach for now allows him to get accustomed to his new organization and it may have kept the compensation Milwaukee owed Brooklyn for the Kidd acquisition down to just 2019 second round pick (and the return of their own 2015 second round pick).
Mike Budenholzer
Team: Atlanta Hawks
Official titles: Coach, Interim Head of Basketball Operations
Comment: Mike Budenholzer with the Atlanta Hawks is a bit different. The plan wasn't for him to have control over the personnel -- at least not this early into his head coaching career. When Budenholzer took his first job as the head coach after being Gregg Popovich's assistant in San Antonio for 19 years, the structure of the organization was intact. Over the past month, things have fallen apart in Atlanta with co-owner Bruce Levenson offering to sell his controlling interest in the team in lieu of getting ahead of a racially insensitive and offensive email he sent.
Then a recording of Hawks' general manager Danny Ferry saying something offensive about Luol Deng on a conference call about free agency surfaced, causing Ferry to take a leave of absence. In the interim, Budenholzer will assume the general manager duties for the Hawks. It won't be so involved for now, since the team's roster is pretty much set. And we don't know how long Budenholzer will keep the dual duties in Atlanta, but he had been a witness to Gregg Popovich holding double duties for nearly two decades.
THE REBUILDING BASKETBALL CZAR
Flip Saunders
Team: Minnesota Timberwolves
Official titles: Coach, President of Basketball Operations, Limited Partner
Comment: When Flip Saunders became part-owner/president of basketball operations with the Minnesota Timberwolves, it was obvious he was going to throw his hat into the coaching circle once again. Rick Adelman was at the end of his incredible career and Saunders didn't necessarily have to find a new coach right away when that happened. After a disappointing season with the Wolves missing the playoffs for the tenth straight year, Adelman stepped down from coaching and Saunders executed a fruitless coaching search. Or maybe he executed the coaching search with a roster about to be in flux that would ensure he was the only logical option?
Regardless of how heartfelt the coaching search was, Flip is the man on the sidelines indefinitely. Some believe they'll make a push for Fred Hoiberg in 2015 with Andrew Wiggins to dangle in front of the Iowa State coach. As for now, he's been in charge of transitioning the roster from the Kevin Love era into something new and did about as well as you could reasonably expect from an executive in his position this past summer. He restarted the organization by galvanizing the roster in a rebuild. Now it's on Saunders to coach up the roster and teach them how to develop and win right away.
We don't know how long he wants to stay in this role, but we know he won't have any real disputes with owner Glen Taylor over what's going on. He can preach patience to Taylor with the confidence in knowing there won't be any real consequences for failure any time soon. The interesting thing to look out for is how he helps Ricky Rubio take that next step while looking at restricted free agency to negotiate with his point guard next summer, assuming they can't agree on a contract extension by October 31. It's his job now to make next summer's job as president more difficult.
THE PLAYOFFS OR BUST BASKETBALL CZAR
Stan Van Gundy
Team: Detroit Pistons
Official titles: Coach, President of Basketball Operations
Comment: Stan Van Gundy seemed like a lock to join the Warriors before we saw the Detroit Pistons offer up control of player personnel. It was something the Warriors weren't willing to match in their search to replace Mark Jackson and Van Gundy headed to the Motor City instead. Van Gundy always had a good relationship with Otis Smith in Orlando, and really his only issue was the ever-devolving relationship with Dwight Howard as the All-NBA center careened toward free agency in 2013. Outside of that, the Magic often acquired players that fit nicely into Van Gundy's vision of what basketball should be.
In Detroit, he'll be asked to revive a once proud franchise and a title-winner just a decade ago. It won't necessarily be the rough and tumble blue collar style the Pistons fans used to yearn for, but the defensive system will be brilliant to go along with an offensive system that maximizes the opportunities for points. The Pistons have plenty of pieces in place and some stability on the sidelines will be a welcome sight in Detroit. Joe Dumars too often used the coach following the championship years as the scapegoat, in an effort to save himself from scrutiny. They had five coaches in the previous six seasons.
There isn't much time for wiggle room in Detroit. Not that it puts Van Gundy's job in jeopardy right away because he certainly has security, but the Pistons have enough talent in a weak enough conference to make the playoffs right away. And differently than from what Saunders is dealing with in Detroit, Van Gundy is being asked to develop young talent like Andre Drummond right away while also creating a winning culture that doesn't miss the playoffs.
THE TITLE-SEEKING BASKETBALL CZAR
Doc Rivers
Team: Los Angeles Clippers
Official titles: Coach, President of Basketball Operations
Comment: A year ago, Doc Rivers was "traded" to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for a 2015 first round pick. He was given senior vice president of basketball operations duties along with being asked to lead the Clippers to a championship on the sidelines. After he so brilliantly dealt with the Donald Sterling debacle during the 2014 playoffs, Rivers was promoted to president of basketball operations and then given a new contract extension on top of that when Steve Ballmer became the new owner. Rivers is the man making moves for the Clippers roster and then coaching that roster with championship aspirations. Anything less than a title is understandable because of the depth of the conference, but will ultimately be looked at as a disappointment.
Perhaps the trickiest part of his job in the coming years will be fostering an environment that relinquishes leadership of the team from Chris Paul to Blake Griffin on the court. And surrounding those two players with the proper role players is a mix the team couldn't quite find last year. The team is loaded with talent but Rivers has sold early on the future to maximize the present. He moved Eric Bledsoe in a three-team deal for Jared Dudley and J.J. Redick last offseason. He moved Dudley and a 2017 first round pick this summer in an effort to clear room for the ability to sign veteran players to round out the roster for this season.
Rivers has looked at the future, and while he hasn't necessarily mortgaged it, he's made it clear that this is the only season that matters right now. His draft selections have been interesting as well, grabbing "veteran" college players at the end of the first round the last two years with Reggie Bullock in 2013 and C.J. Wilcox in 2014. He's looking for rookies that can come in right away and be trusted because they're not 19-year-olds trying to figure out the NBA. He's building a title team now and will deal with the future when it gets here.
THE ULTIMATE BASKETBALL CZAR
Gregg Popovich
Team: San Antonio Spurs
Official titles: Coach, President of Spurs Basketball
Comment: Gregg Popovich has been an executive with the San Antonio Spurs since 1994 when he was hired as vice president of basketball operations and general manager. In 1996, he assumed the coaching duties to go along with his executive orders for the team's roster. In that time, he's won five championships in the dual role and has set the standard for coaching in professional team sports. He's also help set up a basketball culture in the NBA that is revered as much as it's feared.
In 2002, Popovich passed over his general manager duties to head scout R.C. Buford but remains the president of Spurs basketball. He's one of the best coaches this sport has ever seen. What makes him so good is he's done what every other coach/executive aims to do in this business: he's created his vision of what basketball and a basketball organization should be while never wavering from that vision. It helps that he has one of the greatest big men of all time executing that vision on the court and an owner in Peter Holt who had the intelligence to stick with Popovich.
The Spurs head into the season with the task of defending their title, while continuing to extract every last bit of success from a group that was supposed to have become too old to win a title for the past six years. We're now at a point in which the system, the coaching, and the culture of the Spurs has so much clout that we're no longer questioning them. We believe that as long as Popovich is on the sidelines and this core of players is still together, they have a shot of winning it all. They bounced back from a horrendous collapse in 2013 to win the 2014 title in overwhelming fashion.
We don't know where this roster and its makeup will go following the retirement of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and maybe even Tony Parker in the next few years. We're not even sure how long Popovich will want to stick around to keep coaching Kawhi Leonard. But what we do know is if you're looking to become a basketball czar in today's NBA, Gregg Popovich and the Spurs are the standard for such a nearly impossible job to execute.
