NBA
Distractions and drama do in Mark Jackson
OAKLAND, Calif. – The Golden State Warriors fired Mark Jackson, ending the franchise’s most successful coaching tenure in the last two decades but also one filled with distractions and drama.
General manager Bob Myers thanked Jackson in a statement Tuesday for “his role in helping elevate this team into a better position than it was when he arrived nearly 36 months ago.” Myers said it was a difficult decision, but the Warriors “simply feel it’s best to move in a different direction at this time.”
Jackson’s three seasons with the Warriors will be remembered for the way he helped turn a perennially losing franchise into a consistent winner and the bold and bombastic way in which he did it.
Jackson, a former NBA point guard who had his best seasons with the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers, never had been a head coach at any level when principal owner Joe Lacob hired him away from the ABC/ESPN broadcast table in June 2011.
NHL
Avs’ rookie head coach a Jack Adams finalist
NEW YORK – Mike Babcock of the Detroit Red Wings, Jon Cooper of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Patrick Roy of the Colorado Avalanche are finalists for the Jack Adams Award.
The NHL Broadcasters’ Association voted for the top coach after the regular season. The winner will be announced June 24 in Las Vegas.
Babcock led the Red Wings to a 93-point season and their 23rd consecutive playoff berth, the longest active streak in North American pro sports.
Cooper is in his first full season as a head coach. He guided the Lightning to second place in the Atlantic Division a year after they were 28th in the overall standings.
Roy, in his rookie season as an NHL head coach, helped Colorado finish third in the overall standings after placing 29th overall the year before.
Predators hire Laviolette as new head coach
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Nashville Predators wanted experience and a proven winner as their new head coach, and general manager David Poile believes that’s what they got in hiring Peter Laviolette – just the second coach in the franchise’s history.
Laviolette has won nine of the 14 postseason series he has coached with Carolina Hurricanes, New York Islanders and Philadelphia Flyers. He also won the Stanley Cup in 2006 with Carolina and coached the Flyers to the Stanley Cup finals in 2010. The Predators announced Tuesday they signed him to a multi-year contract.
Laviolette will take over in Nashville once he finishes coaching the United States at the 2014 World Championship.
Openings in Carolina, Florida, Vancouver and Washington prompted Poile to move quicker to avoid losing Laviolette.
Laviolette has been a head coach over 12 seasons, starting with the New York Islanders between 2001 and 2003, Carolina from 2003 to 2009 and Philadelphia from 2009 until October. He has 389 wins and 866 career points and six playoff berths, winning nine series.
Associated Press
