NBA...What to Say?

Today is April 30, 2008 and Avery Johnson is the former coach of the Dallas Mavericks. He was fired today. While the coach of the Dallas Mavericks he won more than 170 regular season games but lost 12 of his last 15 playoff games. And in the NBA, according to Tim Legler of ESPN, that will get you fired. Mike D'Antoni, coach of the Phoenix Sun could soon find himself out of a job according to critics. But the NBA is an ethical enigma. Drug use by players is prohibited and for insurance there are four random tests throughout the season. That is scrupulous to say the least. But there is an arguably unhealthy premimium on not just winning but winning in the playoffs. Coaches are given 2-3 years to produce if they show signs of life by winning regular season games. When that "almost-a-champion" phase has exhausted itself, NBA franchises search for the missing pieces (i.e. Jason Kidd and Shaq") complete their puzzles and march to the next step. Teams will do anything to win even if it undermines the coach. I'm pretty convinced that coaches know how to win once the right ingredients are at their disposal. But it's clear that coaches do not always have the authority they represent. Coaches are cogs just like players. They are a means for the parent organism to flourish and when they become expendable, teams release them too. It's hard to believe that winning isn't enough but it isn't. Winnng at the end is all that matters to Mark Cuban. But I don't remember him playing in the NBA which Avery Johnson and Mike D'Antoni both did. Yes, the NBA is a compex riddle. The NBA Cares but it does so for communities domestic and abroad by utilizing its member, the players/coaches. These men are the image of the NBA in flesh and bring the league millions of dollars. Nevertheless, if they should falter because of an increasingly competitive Western Conference, Heads roll. Johnson will find another job soon. I'm not worried about that. But one thing is certain, professional basketball is a big boy industry with unreasonably high expectations to match its exorbitant salaries. Good or bad, it's definitely business.