Avery Johnson will be new Pistons Coach - Topic Powered by Eve Community

The surprising firing of Pistons coach Michael Curry today seems to prove the old adage that the NBA is a player’s league.

Hired last summer to replace Flip Saunders, it was initially thought that Curry, just a few years removed from his NBA playing days, would have the ear of the players.

Far from it.

As the team tumbled to a 39-43 record and first-round sweep at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers, players privately questioned game plans as well as the many lineup changes Curry implemented.

Rip Hamilton and Allen Iverson, both the subject of a midseason controversy over who would be in the starting lineup, both publicly questioned Curry's decision-making.

At the end of the season, Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars said that Curry’s status was a non-issue, but something obviously changed.

So here’s today’s lesson on how professional sports operate. Coaches lead at the whim of their much higher-paid players. And unless a coach carries the weight of a lot of victories or, even better, championship rings, he must quickly establish himself as worthy of respect.

One would have to figure that word spread around the league about players’ reservations over Curry. And what with Dumars hoping to attract at least two proven starters through free agency — which begins at 12:01 a.m. tomorrow — it appears that Joe is seeking a more established coach for the next Pistons’ era.

Pistons guard Rodney Stuckey said the move caught him off-guard. He told the Free Press that he learned of the firing after he awoke this morning and read the e-mail.

"To tell you the truth at the end of the day it’s a business,” Stuckey said. “He was a good guy and I learned a lot from him, but at the end of the day it’s a business."

A list of possible candidates to replace Curry would have to include ESPN analysts and former Dallas Mavericks coach Avery Johnson and TNT analyst and former Pistons coach Doug Collins.

Johnson's agent has been contacted by the Pistons but no formal talks have been scheduled, according to a person familiar with the situation. The person said Johnson "absolutely" would be interested in the position.

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A Pistons source doubted that former Pistons great Bill Laimbeer, who recently resigned as coach of the WNBA's Shock, would be considered.

"As we've continued through this transition, it's become clear that we need a more experienced coach for where we are right now," Dumars said today in an e-mail. "I asked a lot of Mike as a first-year head coach."

Curry’s tenure was doomed after the loss of All-Star point guard Chauncey Billups, who was traded to Denver for Iverson last November.

Dumars fired Saunders last year after he led the team to the Eastern Conference finals in each of his three seasons.

Curry played eleven seasons in the NBA, including two stints with the Pistons (1996-97 and 1999-2003). He also played for the Philadelphia 76ers, Washington Bullets, Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors and Indiana Pacers.
Prior to becoming a head coach, Curry was an assistant under Saunders in Detroit and served as the NBA's Vice President of Player Development.

Calls to Michael Curry's cell phone were not returned. Dumars declined to answer additional questions.

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Melvin Nasty

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