NBA Finals and Black head coaches

By: Larry Fitzgerald
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
Originally posted 06/13/2007

 

San Antonio, Texas — In February of this year, the world witnessed the historic event in Miami, Super Bowl XLI, when two Black Head coaches matched up on the biggest stage on Super Bowl Sunday. Tony Dungy’s Indianapolis Colts prevailed over Lovie Smith’s Chicago Bears.

 

It was the first time in history that two Black coaches had reached the single highest-rated game with a world championship on the line.

 

In the NBA, where 85 percent of the players are Black, it almost went unnoticed in 1975 when the Golden State Warriors defeated the Washington Bullets 4-0 in the finals for the NBA Championship. What went unnoticed, you ask? That both respective head coaches, Al Attles of Golden State and K.C. Jones of the Golden State Warriors, matched up in the NBA Finals, and both were Black coaches.

Of course, that was long before cable and satellite T.V. and multi-networks, Sports Radio, USA Today, and Internet worldwide coverage. Plus, Attles was not the first Black head coach to win the NBA Championship; that honor belonged to Bill Russell in 1968. Russell was player coach in both 1968 and 1969 when the Boston Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers in the finals.

 

Mike Brown, the terrific young head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, in just his second year has driven the Cavaliers to the NBA pinnacle. A bright, hardworking young man, Brown formerly was an assistant to Gregg Popovich in San Antonio when the Spurs won the NBA title in 2003. He has proven with his own program that he is already among the league’s top coaches.

 

Brown, however, faces the same major challenge that Avery Johnson ran into head-on in last year’s finals — he’s matched up against a legendary NBA head coach in the finals.

 

Johnson’s Dallas Mavericks lost to Pat Riley and the Miami Heat in last year’s finals. Dwayne Wade was sensational as the MVP; he and Shaquille O’Neal were too much for the Mavericks. Riley has won five NBA Championships as a coach and has been to the finals nine times with three different teams: Los Angeles, New York and Miami.

 

Popovich has won three NBA Titles as head coach with the Spurs, and with the Spurs in a commanding position — up 2-0 after taking games one and two 85-76 and 103-92 — he  is halfway to number four. He also has a huge talent and experience advantage with the great Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker.

 

Brown, however, has built the Cavaliers in his image, much like the Spurs, with a focus on tough hardnosed defense and sharing the basketball.

 

Brown also has the King, the talented LeBron James. The gifted young forward has averaged 27 points, six rebounds, and six assists per game in leading the Eastern Conference Champions to a 50-32 record. James is the only player in NBA history other than Oscar Robertson to average those numbers in three successive NBA seasons.

 

At this point in last year’s finals, Dallas was up 2-0. Then Miami went home for games three, four and five and won all three en route to winning the championship four games to two.

Can James do what Wade did, put the Cavaliers on his back and beat the Spurs in four of the next five games? Are his shoulders that broad? He’s the biggest athlete in Cleveland history since Jim Brown. He is nicknamed The King, but can he grab the NBA crown?

We’’ll see. All three games are in Cleveland this week, and Brown saw his Cavaliers rally from down 2-0 to Detroit to win that series 4-2. The Cavaliers, however, won the fourth quarter in both games 27-21 and 30-14. This series boils down to one question: Is Duncan’s willpower greater than James?

This just in: The Spurs are not the Pistons and Popovich is not Flip Saunders.

The Spurs appear to me to be making a historical statement. They are in pursuit of a fourth world championship since 1999 and a third title since 2003 — that’s a dynasty.

 

Black head coaches in the history of the NBA Finals are 6-7; only Russell, Al Attles, Lenny Wilkens and K.C. Jones have won NBA titles as Black head coaches. Can The King (James) make Brown number five?

 

Fitz Notes & Quotes

All-time NBA playoff appearances are led by the Los Angeles/Minneapolis Lakers’ 54 appearances,

the Boston Celtics’ 45, Philadelphia’s 43. The Minnesota Timberwolves have eight. The Los Angeles/Minneapolis Lakers have been to the NBA Finals 28 times, while Boston has made it 19 times.

Most NBA Championships: Boston Celtics 16, Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers 14, Chicago six. If the Spurs win this year, they can move into fourth place all-time with four NBA Titles. The Spurs have made the playoffs 10 years in a row, and over that period they are the winningest team among all professional sports leagues with a 709 win pct.

 

Former Timberwolves star Donyell Marshall is now in the NBA Finals with the Cavaliers. When asked about the best thing that ever happened during his time in Minnesota, Marshall said, “Meeting my wife Leea of Inver Grove Heights. We have two beautiful children.” Leea is a former Minnesota Vikings cheerleader.

 

Former Timberwolves player Melvin Hunt is an assistant coach with the Cavaliers. He played for Jimmy Rodgers and Sid Lowe.

 

The St. Paul Urban Tennis (SPUT) program held their 2007 fundraising event Monday, June 11, at Dellwood Country Club. This is the 17th year the SPUT program has offered tennis and life skills to kids in St. Paul. Last year, more than 3,000 kids participated in the six-week program at 27 different sites.

 

If your child would like to be the next Arthur Ashe, Serena or Venus Williams, call 651-222-2879 and ask for Greg Wong, or go online at www.stpaulurbantennis.org.

 

American Idol winner Jordan Sparks will start her U.S. Tour in July. She sang the National Anthem at game one of the NBA Finals.