Minority report

NBA still way ahead in developing diverse coaching base

Sidney Lowe's resignation as the Grizzlies' coach last week was notable for more than just the hiring of old school TV broadcaster Hubie Brown as his replacement. Here was a case where a young African-American coach was replaced by a 69-year-old white guy, and nobody complained. Nobody suggested Lowe was getting a raw deal because of his skin color or that Memphis GM Jerry West was tapping into the old boy's network.

At a time when Johnnie Cochran is putting the heat on the NFL over its lack of minority head coaches, the NBA remains virtually problem-free in this area. Even with Lowe's resignation, there are 12 minority head coaches among the league's 29 teams. The 30-team NFL, by contrast, has just two.

"You look at the numbers compared to other sports and we're far ahead," Suns coach Frank Johnson says.

"In the NBA, it's not really a problem," adds Nets coach Byron Scott.

Why has the NBA long been a model in this area? Why isn't Cochran banging on David Stern's door? Why does Spike Lee, an advocate for minorities, continue to say, "I love this game!"

Sorry, but it's not because NBA owners are so much more enlightened than their counterparts in other sports. While Stern and his 29 team owners might deserve credit for creating a better environment, they are nonetheless businessmen to the core. They wouldn't do it if it didn't make financial sense.

More likely, it has to do with the nature of the game. The NBA has a long history of players stepping right off the floor and becoming successful head coaches. Bill Russell won titles right away with his Celtics teams in the '60s. Scott, Orlando's Doc Rivers and Seattle's Nate McMillan top the list of current former players who have thrived as coaches with little or no previous bench experience.

In the NFL, you don't often see former players jumping right into head jobs. Colts coach Tony Dungy and Jets coach Herman Edwards spent years working their way up as assistants. Like virtually all other NFL head coaches, they served as position coaches first, then coordinators, before learning how to manage the operation of a 75-man team.

How many former pro athletes -- white or black -- are willing to put in 10 years as an assistant? Many already have money and fame, and just aren't willing to serve long apprenticeships. Cochran is justified in pressing the issue, but it's possible the NFL simply needs more time for minority candidates to work their way through the pipeline.

Whatever the case, the NBA clearly sets the standard among pro sports when it comes to opportunities for minority coaches. In big cities (New York) and small (Orlando), from East (New Jersey) to West (Portland), and North (Chicago) to South (New Orleans), African-American coaches run the show. More important, Hornets coach Paul Silas says, they're not just jobs given for public relations value.

"That's really the key," Silas says. "Sometimes they give you a job and you don't have a chance. You get a team with no talent. You can't do well.

"But Isiah [Thomas], Byron [Scott], myself, we've been given good teams. We can compete with anybody."

More work still needs to be done, of course. The NBA features just three minority GMs and not a single principal owner. But as the Lowe case shows, when it comes to coaching the only black-and-white that matters in the NBA is the standings.

Marty Burns covers pro basketball for CNNSI.com. Click here to send Marty a question or comment.

 

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