Winning a title is no longer an immunity totem for a coach

Frank Vogel, Mike Budenholzer and now Mike Malone. Respectively NBA champions with Lakers, Bucks and Nuggets in 2020, 2021 and 2023, the coaches took the door two years after their titles…

“This is a disturbing trend. I don't know who started that ”, s’amuse Nick Nursechampion in 2019 with the Raptors and fired by Toronto four years later. “But it seems quite strange”.

Three of the last five coaches to have won the NBA title are therefore no longer in office. Only only Joe Macechampion last year with the Celtics, and Steve Kerrirremovable among the Warriors.

The sign of a more homogeneous NBA?

Logically, However, there is a strong correlation Between the number of coaches changes and the success of a franchise. Stability on the bench is both a success factor, but also a success marker.

So is this the end of the profiles at the Phil Jackson, Gregg Popovich, Pat Riley or Rudy Tomjanovich, these coaches who alone embody a culture? Or maybe rather the sign of a just more homogeneous NBA?

“I don't think the room for maneuver is what we are looking for”concludes Nick Nurse. “I think everyone is trying to prove that you can reach the ultimate goal with their own team. The role sometimes changes but, as we know, it is an emotional game. It is a game with a lot of pressure, where we win and where we lose day after day. It is reality. You know, everyone feels it day after day. It's hard ”.

And it is all the harder in a league where candidates on the title change a lot, much faster.