In bizarro world, you lead your team to the Western Conference Finals on the heels of your franchise’s most winningest season and end up in the unemployment line two weeks later. Lionel Hollins, after four-plus seasons with the Memphis Grizzlies, did just that and is no longer the head coach of the team. Bizarro world is here, and it’s a scary new reality for NBA coaches.
Just yesterday, Hollins was informed that his contract would not be renewed. In all likelihood, he will be replaced by assistant Dave Joerger, and Hollins could be drawn away to rival team the Los Angeles Clippers.
In four seasons, the Hollins crusade has been a strong one. He pulled out the Memphis organization from the ashes of mediocrity and morphed them into title contenders. (Just a few weeks ago the NBA media chorus had the Grizz storming through the Western Conference and giving Miami a run for their money.) Though Hollins wasn’t exactly bemused by the mid-season Rudy Gay trade, he put the remade Grizzlies back on track after a slow middle run, before closing out their best season in history.
Under Collins, Zach Randolph developed into a sure All-Star, Marc Gasol went from doughboy to defensive playboy, and Mike Conley has been steadily climbing the point guard ranks. This postseason they beat a stacked Clippers team in six games, advanced past a Durant-led Oklahoma squad, and lost admirably to a sound Spurs team. In postseasons past, they pulled off a historic upset against the No. 1-seeded Spurs (2011) and took the Clippers to a hard-fought seven games (2012), which they ended up losing.
In four years of rebuilding mode, Collins has orchestrated a 56% winning record, going for 196 wins and 155 losses. Yet, his days as Memphis Grizzlies head coach are done.
Just like him, Coach of the Year George Karl got the boot rather unexpectedly. But, what might have been bizarre even two seasons ago is the new paradigm NBA coaches find themselves in.
Under a CBA atmosphere, during a time when franchises are worth the price of island nations, coaches are no longer simply responsible for running teams. They are now in charge of ballooning economies, and must erect wins at the pace of hyper-capitalism. “Championship or bust” becomes not just a Miami Heat mantra, but the new level by which coaches must be measured by.
It certainly isn’t pretty. But a look at Avery Johnson in Brooklyn, Mike Dunlap in Charlotte, Mike Brown in L.A., and now Hollins in Memphis reveals the ugly truth.
