The unusual contract that Micah Nori accepted to become head coach of the Trail Blazers is drawing a negative reaction from the National Basketball Coaches Association and other coaches around the league, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPN.
Nori was given one guaranteed year with team options for the following two seasons. Sources tell MacMahon that the deal contains a below-market base salary and incentives that are based on team performance.
“I understand his story and his journey to get to the spot where he was able to get this opportunity, and I don’t want to take away from what should be a special moment for him for his family and a job that’s well deserved and earned,” said J.B. Bickerstaff, Pistons head coach and NBCA president. “That’s first and foremost. 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. 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.”
The 52-year-old Nori spent 28 years as an NBA assistant before getting his first head coaching opportunity, working on staffs in Toronto, Sacramento, Denver and Detroit before becoming lead assistant in Minnesota five years ago. He was hired by Portland owner Tom Dundon and general manager Joe Cronin following an extensive coaching search.
Nori has interviewed for several recent head coaching vacancies, including the jobs in Chicago and Dallas this year.
MacMahon states that other NBA coaches were also critical of the contract structure but refused to go on the record with their reactions. A spokesperson for the Trail Blazers declined to comment, as did Nori’s agent, Bret Just, who also represents Bickerstaff and several other coaches around the NBA.
MacMahon notes that head coaches are rarely asked to enter the final year of their contract without an extension, let alone to begin coaching a new team in that situation. The uncertainty that comes with being on a year-to-year deal makes it challenging to exert authority with players and to put together a coaching staff.
“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 added. “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.”
