Mavericks Fire Avery Johnson After Another Playoff Flop

Avery Johnson, one of the best young coaches in the NBA lost his job Wednesday, a move the team referred to as “relieving him of his duties.” Such is the nature of coaching in the professional leagues, a sort of “what have you done for me lately.” In three-plus seasons Johnson has guided the Mavericks to the finals for the first time and to a club-record 67 wins the following season. But for all the high points, there were some serious lows—blowing a 2-0 lead in those finals, getting dumped in the first round of the playoffs after that 67-win season and then, the final straw, getting knocked out in the first round again this season after Dallas shook up its roster and mortgaged some of its future to acquire Jason Kidd. Over those three straight postseason wipeouts, the Mavericks lost 12 of 15 games, including all nine on the road. The final mark during Johnson’s tenure: 194-70 in the regular season, 23-24 in the playoffs.

The coach is like the captain of a ship; if anything goes wrong. But some of the blame for the Dallas Mavericks woes lies at the foot of Mark Cuban, its “maverick” owner. With the attitude of putting butts in the seats, the Mavericks, like the Sacramento Kings – who are now in a rebuilding phase, and Phoenix Suns – who were also knocked out of the playoff after one round, chose to build exciting run and gun teams that were not tough enough in the physical atmosphere of championship playoff basketball.

“There’s no animosity or bitterness,” Johnson said. “We all still really care about each other, but it was time to go in a different direction. … We didn’t win the championship, but if you look at the whole body of work that we put together over the last 3 1/2 years … we’ll put it up against anybody.”

Coach Johnson might not be unemployed very long. The New York Knicks and Chicago Bulls are among the teams needing coaches, and both might want a young, proven coach who preaches defense and discipline. A championship-winning point guard for San Antonio during his long career, Avery Johnson became Dallas’ coach-in-waiting in 2004-05. His wait ended just a few months later. He finished that regular season 16-2, and then won his first playoff series. Then, in his first full season in charge, the Mavericks reached the NBA finals and Johnson was named coach of the year. Then came the last two seasons ending in first round playoff losses, and the rest is as they say, history.