“They always move the goal posts.”
These words are often uttered by aspiring and qualified black coaches and general managers whose extensive experience has never been enough to accomplish their coveted NBA dream job. The words came up again when Minnesota Timberwolves chose to go outside the franchise to fill their head coach Sunday after Ryan Saunders was relieved of his duties after a 103-99 loss to the New York Knicks that set the Wolves record in ‘ dropped a league. -worst 7-24.
Instead of promoting head coach David Vanterpool, who is Black, the organization hires assistant coach Chris Finch, Toronto Raptors, who is white. To be honest, Finch is qualified for the job, but it’s not typical for a franchise to want to hire a new coach to another team in the middle of the season.
‘What are we supposed to do? Coach at university? What else do we need to do? What is the blueprint? “A longtime black NBA assistant coach told The Undefeated. “Someone is helping us, because what we know now is clearly not helping us.”
Vanterpool (47) definitely has the CV which is an opportunity for coaching. Vanterpool, a former player whose career played 12 years in the NBA, the Continental Basketball Association and overseas, was an assistant coach at the Portland Trail Blazers from 2012 to 2019. He played a key role in helping Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum become. stars. (Both Lillard and McCollum spoke on social media after Vanterpool aired Sunday.)
Vanterpool left Portland in 2019 by taking a position as the head coach at the Minnesota Reconstruction. Last season, he also interviewed head coaches for the New Orleans Pelicans, Houston Rockets and Chicago Bulls.
With 41 games remaining in the Wolves season, the immediate expectation was that the team would promote Vanterpool on an interim basis to see if he was worthy of the job full-time. JB Bickerstaff, head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Stephen Silas, head coach of the Rockets, who are both black, were previously interim head coaches. Giving Vanterpool a chance to be an interim head coach could be a path to a full-time head coach in Minnesota or elsewhere with a good job. But Vanterpool has been transferred to Finch, who is an old colleague of Gersson Rosas, president of Wolves. Vanterpool, who declined to comment for this story, took the opportunity to stay on the staff.
There are currently seven black NBA head coaches among 30 teams in a league where about 75% of the players are African-American. The news that Vanterpool is not becoming the eighth has shocked the Black Coaching fraternity.
“This is typical of the black coaching experience in the NBA,” one black NBA head coach told The Undefeated. “They use your skill during difficult times, but when it’s time to give you an opportunity, they always seem to find a reason not to, and then expect you to remain the good soldier.”
Another black NBA head coach told The Undefeated: ‘Fire Ryan. Rent Finch on the same day. About David Vanterpool. Crazy. Shake my head. “
Sources say that Rosas decided before Saunders’ shooting incident that Vanterpool was not suitable as a possible replacement. But Vanterpool has a strong relationship with several Wolves players, including stars Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell in particular. According to a source, Towns was not consulted during the hiring process.
Towns said during a press conference on Tuesday that he is happy for Finch and he will support him, but also takes the time to recognize Vanterpool as a great coach.
“I want to take the time to recognize the amazing work that these assistant coaches have done, especially David Vanterpool,” Towns said. ‘Coloreds deserve to have a chance to be a head coach in this league, and I would be saddened if I did not mention the wonderful work he has done and what he has meant to this organization since he performed here do not have.
‘I’m very excited to be coached by Coach Finch and play for him, but I also want to recognize the men of color we have in this coaching staff, especially one who will soon be a head coach in this league. and I’m going to be very excited for that moment for him. ”
For now, Vanterpool will have to wait.
The Wolves will be led by Finch, who is a former coach of Britain’s national team and has more than 24 years of experience in coaching in the NBA and G League. Prior to coaching in Toronto, the 51-year-old Finch was a co-head coach at the Pelicans from 2017 to 2020, an assistant coach at the Denver Nuggets during the 2016-17 season, and an assistant coach at the Rockets from 2011 to 2016.
In Houston, Finch worked under Rosas as head coach of the G League Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Finch led the Vipers to a 67-33 record in two seasons. In 2010, he won a title and the Dennis Johnson Trophy (G League Coach of the Year Award).
By accepting the Minnesota position, Finch became the first assistant coach to leave a team during an NBA season to become head coach for another team, as Memphis Grizzlies Lionel Hollins joined the Milwaukee Bucks in 2009. took office after Marc Iavaroni was sacked.
While Rosas got the head coach he wanted, he is now being questioned about the importance of adding value in diversity after tying Vanterpool. To his to the credit, the Wolves have appointed people like Sachin Gupta, who is Indian, as executive vice president of basketball operations, a black assistant general manager, Joe Branch, and a woman, Bri Bauer, as vice president of communications and engagement during his tenure.
Shortly before Rosas became the NBA’s first president of basketball in the NBA team in 2019, Rosas spoke to The Undefeated about his dreams for Latinos in the league.
“The beauty of our league is the variety of it,” Rosas said. ‘And not just in terms of background or culture, but it’s the mentality and the approaches. This is not just done in one way. The different perspective you have in an organization is the value of having the team on the field and teaming up out of court. Building it together is something I’m very passionate about. ”
Rosas said at an introductory news conference for Finch on Monday that he considers the Vanterpool and Wolves assistant, Pablo Prigioni, an Argentine Italian, to be Saunders. But he thinks the best way is to look outside the organization.
“We carry out very thorough and diligent processes here,” Rosas said. ‘When you talk to our staff, especially to our coaches, we invest a lot in it and I want the guys to be successful. I never think anyone thinks I will pass on a candidate who I think can help at the highest level. The reality is that as we work through this process, our focus, our goal, our goal is where we are at present, can not continue. We can not drive further with the road where we are.
‘Where our plate is, where we play on both sides of the floor. This is what led us to this decision. This is what led us to the change. And for me, if we are going to do something, there has to be a goal behind it, and we want to be brave and straightforward with this as soon as the opportunity with Toronto is available. We were very aggressive because with Chris we have a guy here who shares a vision, we share a philosophy and feel very confident about his ability to influence this team. And alas, with our struggle here for the past year and a half, the ability to change that narrative from an internal perspective would be difficult. ‘
Eventually, Rosas appointed Finch for a multi-year contract, and he did so, according to sources, without having to go through the interview process with a diverse group of qualified coaching candidates. Even though Vanterpool was not the man, there were certainly many other coaches who were worth questioning. One longtime black NBA scout told The Undefeated that he was surprised that Rosas did not consider a diverse group of candidates.
Towns says he understands the reaction to a color coach who is not strongly considered for the opening of the Wolves’ head coach.
“As far as my work is concerned, there are many wonderful men of color who deserve the opportunity to lead a team and run an organization and have the chance to make their mark in this league, not wearing a jersey. , but with a suit on. And I say it with meaning, ”Towns said.
‘But like I said, I would be sad if I did not mention the wonderful work that David Vanterpool did and as a man who looks like me, I can not wait to see him get a job where. he can not thrive and be a head coach and manage a team. We are so honored and blessed to have him here in this coaching team, and to continue to learn from him and gain all the wisdom and experience he has to play professionally and also to be a coach. ”
Surely, overcoming the NBA’s worst record would have been a huge undertaking for Vanterpool. But the long list of qualified African-American assistant coaches in the NBA would have celebrated and supported such an opportunity for him. Instead, Vanterpool is transferred and a lack of a diverse group of coaching candidates being considered is just the latest example of the goalposts being moved for black NBA coaches.
One longtime black NBA assistant said about young black coaches hoping to become head coaches:
“It’s discouraging.”