Silas Firing Continues A Bad Trend

Paul Siras did everything you can ask of a coach. He made progress. He turned a loser into a winner. In exchange for doing that, he was given the same gift so many professional coaches are given these days: a pink slip.

Under Silas, the Cleveland Cavaliers started as the worst team in the NBA. Last year, they improved to 35 wins. The consistent improvement has continued this season and the Cavs have posted 34 wins already. They still have a good chance of making the playoffs. But the team hit a 3-9 slide recently, so Silas was canned.

The speculation is that Silas was fired partially as a way to keep LaBron James happy enough to stay in Cleveland. I would think consistent improvement, the chance to emerge as the game's most hyped superstar and a chance to make the playoffs this early in his career would be enough to keep James happy. Even if it isn't, Silas shouldn't be the sacrificial lamb.

I might sound like an old-schooler here, but there was a time when players played and coaches coached. In other words, players didn't run the organization. Now all a star player has to do is demand that his coach be fired, and it's done. As if that isn't bad enough, in this case, Silas wasn't fired because James publicly announced that he wanted him gone, he was canned because there was speculation that James might be unhappy with how things were going. That takes an unfortunate situation and makes it utterly ridiculous.

Players--especially 20-year-old players two years removed from high school--shouldn't be in charge of decisions such as who coaches the team. They are too flighty, irresponsible and immature. Still, teams give them more influence than coaches who have spent 60 years around the game. Something is wrong with that scenario. Maybe that's why the NBA is in such a sorry state.