Scott Brooks was hired by the Oklahoma City Thunder to help mentor a young team of rising stars. Brooks had never been a star in the NBA, but he played with them and knew what it took to cover that vast canyon between good and great. Brooks' job was to help Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and others make that leap.
This is why Scott Brooks was fired despite winning a lot
Brooks’ major success with the Thunder also underscored his limitations as a head coach.
Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports
From that perspective, one could argue Brooks accomplished his mission during his tenure, which ended Wednesday with the announcement of his firing. Durant and Westbrook have turned into two of the planet's best players and Serge Ibaka became a borderline All-Star under Brooks' tutelage. Other young players like Reggie Jackson and Steven Adams took major strides. OKC must be thrilled with all of that.
Brooks proved he's an excellent teacher, and that's why other up-and-coming teams like the Orlando Magic are already showing interest in him. He's a smart basketball mind and knows how to connect with and support young players.
The tenure in Oklahoma City also revealed Brooks’ limitations, however, as the team got closer to the top of the mountain. How did Brooks get himself fired after his teams won over 70 percent of their games from 2011-14? By being the same coach he always was.
The rise in OKC
Brooks' first year with the Thunder in 2008-09 wasn't really a success. The team was playing its first season in OKC after leaving Seattle and clearly was in a rebuild. The team's top three players were Durant (age 20), Westbrook (age 20) and Jeff Green (age 22).
This was precisely the situation in which Brooks thrived. With the additions of Ibaka, James Harden and others, the Thunder won 50 games in Brooks' second season. Among the team's top nine players, only one was older than 26 years old (Nick Collison) and six of them were 23 or younger.
Over the next couple years, this group would grow together, led by Brooks' steady hand. There aren't many coaches who could thrive with this young a roster -- ask Brian Shaw -- but Brooks showed an incredible amount of patience and optimism in his players. Durant, Westbrook, Ibaka, Harden and others would get chances to play through their mistakes. There wasn't really any other option.
By 2012, the Thunder reached their first NBA Finals, only to run into a Miami Heat team determined not to let another title chance slip away. OKC couldn't keep up with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh at the height of their powers and lost the series, 4-1.
That was the peak of Brooks’ tenure in Oklahoma City. At that point, it seemed likely the next few years would see the Thunder dominating the West, with Durant taking on LeBron for title of world’s best player and a young roster that could only improve. Then the Harden trade happened, and Brooks was left with new young players to mentor. Instead of hitting the next level, Brooks was left trying to do the same things with a slightly less exciting roster.
The growing criticism
With the Thunder falling short of a title the past few seasons, Brooks increasingly came under fire for a perceived lack of strategic wit. The coach is often an obvious scapegoat when a talented team falls short of expectations. In Brooks’ case, he was often the one (along with Westbrook) getting the bulk of the blame.
Much of that tied to the offensive end of the floor, where the Thunder often lacked the creativity or movement seen in other top offenses. The team typically depended on Durant or Westbrook to create chances, which at times left them tired and/or overwhelmed. To many outside observers, Brooks’ lack of technical acumen was always going to be an issue when putting together the playbook.
While the Thunder could put still up numbers in the regular season, critics pointed to the team’s annual playoff ousters as a sign they were being out-coached. Brooks, for all his developmental skills, couldn’t wade into those deep waters of NBA strategy. Those critics conveniently forgot injuries to Westbrook in 2013, Ibaka last season and Durant this year.
More on Brooks
The players’ defense
The folks who always had Brooks’ back were his players. Durant, last year’s MVP, has been among his biggest supporters. In Feb. 2014, Durant suggested Brooks should win Coach of the Year. At the same time this year, he went off at reporters for their criticism.
Four days before his firing, Westbrook offered up a similar vote of confidence. “He did a great job,” Westbrook said of Brooks’ performance this season. “I don’t think he gets enough credit for what he does behind the scenes. Obviously, a lot of people that’s not in (the practice facility) want him to do other things, want to see other things from him. But as a coach and as a friend, I think he does an amazing job of communicating what he wants out of the players.”
Durant and Westbrook have always defended Brooks, which goes back to that strong relationship the three developed when the players were in their early-20s. It’s undeniable that Brooks got his star players to buy in, and as a coach that’s often one of the biggest challenges. The coach couldn’t sell management, however.
What’s next for OKC?
The Thunder will obviously hire a new coach and look to get back to their winning ways next season, but there are some interesting underlying aspects to this move. Oklahoma City general manager Sam Presti reportedly fired Brooks without consulting any players. It’s possible that will bother Durant and/or Westbrook after their many public defenses of him.
At his exit interview, Westbrook called Brooks a “friend.”
Maybe the Thunder didn’t ask for Westbrook or Durant’s opinions because they had already made up their minds and knew what the players would want anyway. Maybe the team is comfortable firing a well-liked coach if it means landing someone more capable of putting the team over the top. Maybe the team did actually talk with its stars about the move.
Brooks showed there wasn’t much else he could accomplish in Oklahoma City, though, at least not with the pieces he had. Now the Thunder will let someone take a different approach. Brooks can head somewhere else to coach up the next bright young core.
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