National Basketball Coaches Association president J.B. Bickerstaff slammed the contract structure that the Trail Blazers signed their new head coach to.
Bickerstaff, the coach of the Pistons, labeled the deal “a slap in the face to our value” in an interview with ESPN when discussing the unusual nature in which the deal is laid out for Micah Nori.
The Worldwide Leader reported that Nori’s contract has only one year guaranteed, along with team options for the second and third years of the deal and a below-market base salary.
There are incentives that can be reached depending on the success of the team.
Nori is a first-time head coach in the NBA after spending five years as the Timberwolves’ lead assistant and has been viewed well among the coaching ranks.
Bickerstaff told ESPN that he was not trying to take away from what Nori did to get the job, but there is a concern about the precedent it might set.
“But I feel like he was put in a situation that he shouldn’t be put in with having to make a choice of this nature because of the structure of what the contract is,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that you have a dream, and from our perspective, it’s like someone’s taking advantage of your dream and devaluing what we feel like coaches have earned over the years.
“You think about the sacrifice, the time, the growth that coaches have helped and done with the NBA, and then for someone to come in and attempt to devalue the work that coaches have in this league is extremely disappointing.”
Other coaches reportedly also agreed with Bickerstaff’s views, but did not publicly comment.
New Trail Blazers owner Tom Dundon has faced criticism since taking over the organization due to his cost-cutting measures, which have included not paying for late check-outs for some team staffers and leaving two-way players home during the playoffs.
“It changes the math on where a coach stands, and it creates an environment where how do you hold players accountable when it looks like you are easily replaced and removed if things don’t go the way that players may see it going,” Bickerstaff said. “It’s almost, which is disappointing, a mindset of the substitute teacher being there with no guarantee or support [regarding] what it looks like long term or in the future.
“I’ve talked to a lot of coaches — head coaches, assistant coaches — who are extremely concerned. It’s a very serious matter to us as coaches to make sure that we protect the value of coaching staffs. It’s years and years of work that coaches have put in to put ourselves in this position and to put future coaches in the position where our value remains and isn’t disregarded because of a power flux of ownership.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
