Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob has not derived from his play to evaluate the performance of coach Mark Jackson until after the season, the San Francisco Chronicle reported on Sunday, and determine whether Jackson will return to the team in 2014-15.
Why Jackson - the first Warriors coach to take the team to back-to-back playoff appearances since 1990-92 - is even on the hot seat in the first place in unclear.
Jackson took the team from a 23-43 record in 2011-12 to 47 wins last season and a 51-31 record in 2013-14. The team lost in the first round of the Western Conference playoff in seven games to the No. 3 seed Los Angeles Clippers, a year after advancing to the Western Conference semifinals before bowing out in six games against the San Antonio Spurs.
Despite Jackson's on-court success, the Chronicle is reporting that Lacob wants to determine whether he should keep Jackson on board as the team's coach:
"Jackson has found himself under fire for behind-the-scenes dealings. The Warriors chose simply to pick up his 2014-15 option - instead of offering him an extension after last season's attention-grabbing playoff run - and this season's stretch run included shadowy departures of two assistant coaches."
Another report indicated that Jackson was unwilling to allow Warriors head consultant Jerry West to attend practice, which Jackson refutes.
"That's a lie," Jackson told USA TODAY Sports after the Clippers' 113-103 Game 5 win Tuesday. "Come on. That's a lie. That's disrespectful."
Clippers players have been quick to get behind their mysteriously embattled coach.
"What Coach has gone through this year has been unlike anything I've seen - just the amount of distractions, the circus that has been around him and the decisions he has had to make," Warriors point guard Stephen Curry told the Chronicle. "I love Coach more than anybody. For him to be in a position where his job is under scrutiny and under questions is totally unfair.
"It would definitely be a shock to me if anything like (a firing) would happen. I'm definitely going to voice my support for Coach to anybody that asks me all summer.
"He deserves to be our coach next year, and we're going to come back and build off of the momentum we've gained over the past three years and continue to grow as a team. I want Coach Jackson to be that guy leading us."
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