Paul Westphal, who benched center DeMarcus Cousins last weekend for attitude problems that he said included Cousins wanting to be traded, was fired Thursday as Sacramento Kings coach.
Assistant Keith Smart, who last season was the Golden State Warriors head coach before being let go after a 36-46 record, signed a deal to take over as head coach ? with Westphal's blessing ? beginning with Thursday's home game against the Milwaukee Bucks.
The first coaching firing comes less than two weeks into the lockout-shortened NBA season. The Kings, at 2-5, are last in the Western Conference. Their average margin of losing was 19.6 points; they were second worst in the league in average points allowed (102.4).
"I want to thank Paul for all of his effort on behalf of the Kings," Geoff Petrie, the Kings' president of basketball operations, said in a statement. "Unfortunately, the overall performance level of the team has not approached what we felt was reasonable to expect. I wish him the best in his future endeavors."
In two-plus seasons as head coach of the Kings, Westphal, 61, went 51-120 (.298).
The last coach fired so soon after the start of the season, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, was Jack Ramsay (0-7) in 1988-89 with the Indiana Pacers. Ramsay was coming off two seasons with a combined 79-85 record (.482).
"I would like to thank the Maloof family for the incredible opportunity they gave me to participate in the attempt to bring the Sacramento Kings back to prominence," Westphal said in the statement. "While the job is far from finished, I am proud of the strides we were able to make.
"Geoff Petrie and his staff have been nothing but honest and supportive throughout my time here. They are first class in every way and I wish them nothing but success. My hope is to see the fans of the Kings and the city of Sacramento rewarded with many years of great basketball.
"Finally, I want to thank my loyal staff and players for their efforts in attempting to climb out of the hole we shared. Nothing comes easy in the NBA and I know they will not rest in their efforts to rebuild this team."
The debacle with Cousins, who entered the draft after one season at Kentucky, began last season, when Westphal suspended him for a locker room scuffle with a teammate and benched him for mocking an opponent.
Last week he suspended him again on the issue of Cousins venting he wanted to be traded. Westphal went so far as to have the staff send out a release about Cousins wanting a trade, which Cousins since has denied happening.
Cousins came off the bench in Wednesday's loss at the Denver Nuggets to score a season-high 26 points. The 21-year-old was averaging 13.7 points and 9.3 rebounds in 26 minutes.
Westphal, a first-round draft choice of the Boston Celtics in 1972, played guard for 12 NBA seasons, averaging 15.6 points and 4.4 assists and shooting at 50%. He played for the Celtics, Phoenix Suns, Seattle SuperSonics, New York Knicks and back with the Suns in 1983-84 before retiring.
His first head coaching job came with the Suns in 1992, followed by stints with the SuperSonics and then a lengthy break before joining the Kings in 2009. His overall record is 318-279 (.533).
Smart, the Indiana guard best known for hitting "The Shot" against Syracuse that won the Hoosiers the 1987 NCAA title, spent seven years as an assistant with Golden State before he replaced the ousted Don Nelson just before training camp last year.
"I had a chance to work for Paul Westphal in the brief time that I've been here and really enjoyed it," Smart said. "He was very supportive every step of the way.
"I want to thank Geoff Petrie and the Maloof family for giving me this opportunity. I'm looking forward to implementing a few new things with what we want to try to do with our basketball team. Hopefully, they'll respond to what I want them to do, and I believe they will.
"I think our players will be excited with some of the ideas that I have for our team moving forward."
Source: http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomNba-TopStories/~3/H7yxK6e3x80/1
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