Willie Green was 150-190 in four-plus seasons coaching the Pelicans.
Willie Green was 150-190 in four-plus seasons coaching the Pelicans.Darren Abate/Associated Press
The first NBA news to break Saturday was the firing of New Orleans Pelicans coach Willie Green, whose name lived on the top of “hot seat” lists over the past few years.
The Celtics pasted Green’s Pelicans last month by 32 points in New Orleans. Of course, former No. 1 overall pick Zion Williamson was not available for that game because of a foot injury. He then played the next three games and now has missed the past six because of a hamstring injury.
Green never had Williamson consistently at his disposal while point guard Dejounte Murray, whom the Pelicans acquired for premium defender Dyson Daniels, is still recovering from a torn Achilles.
The firing is a reminder that most NBA coaches have a brief shelf life and take the brunt of the blame for matters out of their control such as injuries or players lacking professionalism. A few weeks ago, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla invited former Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau to visit practice, just a few months after he had been removed as coach despite leading New York to the Eastern Conference finals.
Was it fair that Green got fired despite never having a healthy team? No. But new general manager Joe Dumars, a Louisiana native, didn’t hire Green and needed to make cultural changes to steer the organization in a positive direction. Green was the natural choice to go.
Mazzulla said he understands that eventually most NBA coaches’ tenures will not end on their own terms. There are very few such as Erik Spoelstra or Gregg Popovich, and even Popovich chose to step down because of health reasons. Mazzulla said he realizes so many components of an organization have to align for the coach to succeed.
The Celtics' Joe Mazzulla says many components of an organization have to align for a coach to be successful.
The Celtics' Joe Mazzulla says many components of an organization have to align for a coach to be successful.Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff
A handful of NBA franchises are quite honestly dysfunctional. In Memphis, the Grizzlies fired coach Taylor Jenkins with nine games left in the season, primarily because he wasn’t running the desired offense chosen by management. And now new coach Tuomas Iisalo is on the hot seat because of his tenuous relationship with star guard Ja Morant.
And the Grizzlies offered a listless effort in their loss to the Celticson Wednesday.
“Every situation, every area is different, you can’t speak for every coaching situation, but [firing] comes with the territory,” Mazzulla said. “There’s an understanding there. But I’m just grateful for what we have here. I don’t know the intricacies, the alignment or the culture, we don’t know what goes on in those situations. But here we have alignment, we have understanding. We win together, we lose together, and we let the results take care of themselves.
“Since I’ve gotten here as an assistant it’s been like that with the Celtics and we just try to continue it.”
It’s apparent that the most successful organizations in the NBA have stability. And Mazzulla, like his predecessors, has been allowed to grow, develop, and also make mistakes on the job. Mazzulla has improved throughout his tenure and this year has been the biggest challenge so far because the Celtics lack the frontline talent of years past.
He has had to make more in-game adjustments, create scoring opportunities for the likes of Jaylen Brown and Derrick White and develop the team’s younger core and new players simultaneously. But he also has a proven track record, winning a championship while taking another team to Game 7 of the conference finals in his first three years.
The Celtics are in a good place organizationally despite taking a step back this season because they have a bona fide leader. There were rumors that Green, who finished with an overall record of 150-190 with two playoff appearances in four-plus seasons, would be fired this summer as Dumars reshaped the organization.
It’s difficult to determine whether Green is actually a capable NBA coach because he never had a healthy or engaged roster. But getting fired can sometimes be a career-killer for an NBA coach.
The Knicks were Thibodeau’s third job and he took the franchise to its first conference finals in 25 years, but he was blamed for falling short.
The hope is time will allow other NBA clubs seeking coaches to consider Thibodeau’s success and not necessarily his ending failures. But being fired is part of the coaching experience and every coach understands that regardless of their success, their tenure is finite.
“I think in the world today it’s very results oriented and what can you do for me now? But I don’t know if being fired means you’re a bad coach,” Mazzulla said. “There are great coaches who have gotten fired. There are bad coaches who have gotten fired. Depending on where your identity is, I don’t think the hiring or firing shows whether you’re a good coach or not. I really don’t. You’ll know if you’re a good coach, 10, 15, 20 years from now based on the relationships that you build. So many times fired is tagged to he wasn’t a good coach. I don’t think those things go hand in hand. There’s been better coaches than me that have gotten fired so you just stand in line.”
Gary Washburn is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at gary.washburn@globe.com. Follow him @GwashburnGlobe.