Darren Erman Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Coaching Rumors: Jackson, Kerr, Karl, Izzo

May 7th, 2014 at 5:59pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Mark Jackson addressed the circumstances regarding his former Warriors assistant coaches Brian Scalabrine and Darren Erman in an interview with the NBA’s Sirius XM radio station earlier today (hat tip to Ben Golliver of SI.com). Of Scalabrine, Jackson said, “The one that was demoted [Scalabrine], I would have had handled it six weeks, a month, two months earlier. The things that took place from his side, I would have nipped it in the bud initially. That’s my fault for allowing it to go on. I’m pretty much a guy, just like ministry, I try to show you a different way of handling it. Hope that seeing me handle your disrespect, you’ll come around and realize this isn’t the way to handle it. Fortunately for me, it works for a lot of folks, there are some folks that just won’t get it and you have to handle them differently. I would do that differently.”

In regards to Erman, Jackson said, “As far as assistants, you have to pick people who are loyal and dedicated. It’s inexcusable what the second assistant [Erman] did. That cannot be tolerated. For folks to say, two situations, it’s obviously documented that they both were 100 percent wrong. The only fault I got is hiring those guys. I would use wisdom in who is around me.”

More Fallout From Mark Jackson’s Firing

May 7th, 2014 at 10:30am CST by Chuck Myron

Mark Jackson said in a radio appearance this morning on The Dan Patrick Show that if the Warriors hadn’t fired him, he would have resigned or demanded changes, as Sports Xchange notes. Here’s more on the reaction to Jackson’s ouster in Golden State:

Former assistant coach Darren Erman was worried that Jackson was speaking ill of him behind his back, Grantland’s Zach Lowe writes, which suggests that was the reason that Erman reportedly taped the conversations of other coaches. The Warriors are investigating allegations that another assistant coach was also recording conversations within the organization, Lowe reports.
Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob doesn’t think that the decision to fire Jackson will cause Stephen Curry to sour on the organization, and Lacob says he took the star point guard’s support for the coach under consideration. Lacob made those comments and more to Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group, Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle and Monte Poole of CSNBayArea.com, and Kawakami provides a transcription.
Lacob also told the reporters that GM Bob Myers made the decision to fire Jackson, though he admits that he had the power to overrule him. Myers said he didn’t consult with Curry before he pulled the plug on Jackson, reports Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group.
Criticism that the team should have given Jackson an extension last summer is “unfair,” in Lacob’s eyes. Still, it appears the dissolution of extension talks proved pivotal to Jackson’s future with the Warriors, Kawakami tweets.
Lacob told the reporters that he didn’t require Jackson, who commuted to his job from Southern California, to move to the Bay Area, but he thinks that he’ll insist that his next coach live close to work. On-court expectations will be high for the next coach of the team, Lacob asserts.
Lacob suggests that while Jackson succeeded in connecting with his players, the coach could do a better job of “managing up and sideways,” seemingly pointing to Jackson’s tension with management and much of the Warriors organization. Still, he insists his relationship with Jackson was generally friendly.
Jackson and Kings coach Michael Malone, Jackson’s former assistant, used to share the same agent, who negotiated the title of Warriors associate head coach for Malone behind Jackson’s back, according to Kawakami. When Jackson found out, he took the title away and changed agents. That begat the tension between Jackson and Malone, Kawakami says (All Twitter links).

Warriors Rumors: Jackson, Erman, Scalabrine

April 29th, 2014 at 10:27am CST by Chuck Myron

The consensus around the league is that it’s “very unlikely” that Mark Jackson will remain as coach of the Warriors next season unless he leads the team on a long playoff run, Grantland’s Zach Lowe tweets. That’s consistent with the widely held belief that Jackson’s future with the team depends on the postseason. Still, a source tells Chris Broussard of ESPN.com that Jackson’s relationship with co-owner Joe Lacob and GM Bob Myers is fine. Here’s more from Golden State:

The Warriors aren’t holding Jackson responsible for what Erman and Scalabrine did, tweets Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group.

Earlier reports:

Former Warriors assistant Darren Erman has landed a job as director of NBA scouting for the Celtics, as Danny Ainge tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The Clippers, among other teams, had been interested in him after his ouster from Golden State earlier this month.
Lowe lauds Boston’s hiring of a keen basketball mind in Erman (via Twitter), but the timing of the news is odd, considering the revelations about Erman’s departure from Golden State in Broussard’s piece. Erman was secretly recording conversations between Warriors coaches and players, sources tell Broussard. It’s unclear what he did with the recordings, and Broussard’s sources aren’t sure whether he shared them with Warriors management and owners.
Sources tell Broussard that Brian Scalabrine, who was reassigned in March from assistant coach to a job with the Warriors D-League team, exhibited a “consistent pattern of disrespect” for Jackson and the other coaches. At one point, Scalabrine went five weeks without speaking to Jackson, Broussard hears.

Western Notes: Warriors, Young, Lakers

April 10th, 2014 at 5:54pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob told reporters that he, coach Mark Jackson and GM Bob Myers all get along, refuting reported dysfunction within the team, as Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group transcribes. Lacob referred to the re-assignment of assistant coach Brian Scalabrine and the firing of fellow assistant Darren Erman as “minor setbacks.” A little over a week ago, Myers gave Jackson a public vote of support, saying that he’s done a tremendous job; however, we’ve also relayed the belief from some writers who think that Jackson’s future in Golden State could be tied to how the team fares in this year’s postseason.

Here are a few other notes to pass along out of the Western Conference this evening:

Lakers swingman Nick Young is “very confident” that he’ll reach an agreement to remain with the team beyond this summer, reports Mark Medina of the L.A. Daily News. This isn’t the first time that the Los Angeles native has gone on record saying he’d like to stay, but he also hinted that it could be difficult to pass up a hefty pay raise somewhere else if the opportunity presented itself.
Some members of Lakers brass are high on the idea of bringing in a young, up-and-coming head coach who wouldn’t command too much money, making him cheap to get rid of if he doesn’t pan out, according to Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding.
In addition to making the argument that Dirk Nowitzki ranks among one of the NBA’s 12 greatest players, Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle thinks that Dirk – currently the 10th highest scorer in NBA history – has plenty left in the tank to surpass a few more names on that list: “He’s got a lot more good basketball left in him…A lot more great basketball. So I think he’s going to pick off a few more guys going up the ladder” (ESPN’s Marc Stein reports).
The Kings have assigned Willie Reed to their D-League affiliate in Reno, according to GM Pete D’Alessandro.
Former Spurs training camp invitee Courtney Fells has signed a deal with Bucaneiros de la Guaira in Venezuela, reports Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. Fells played in 47 games for the Spurs’ D-League affiliate in 2013/14, averaging 20.5 PPG, 6.1 RPG, and 40.4 MPG.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Warriors Fire Assistant Coach Darren Erman

April 5th, 2014 at 4:06pm CST by Charlie Adams

4:06pm: Myers didn’t disclose what violation Erman committed, but he made it clear the coach’s removal was not based on a “basketball decision,” Leung revealed. “Something like this needed to be discussed with general counsel, (human resources), as we would with any other employee,” Myers said. “It took a couple days to go through the proper channels.”

Jackson expressed his disappointment of Erman’s firing. “[Erman] made a mistake,” Jackson said. “He owns it. He’s done a lot for me, he’s done a lot for this organization, and I’m pulling for him to make a comeback. I’m pulling for him to move on and become a great coach, and I believe that that can happen.”

It appears for the time being that Erman’s removal from his position is in fact unrelated to Scalabrine’s demotion.

2:23pm: The Warriors have fired assistant coach Darren Erman due to a violation of company policy, the team announced. Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle originally reported the move this afternoon (via Twitter). Golden State GM Bob Myers says the decision to let go of Erman is unrelated to the recent demotion of assistant Brian Scalabrine, relays Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group (on Twitter). The move means the Warriors now employ only three official assistant coaches.

Erman’s removal from the staff is peculiar since it comes only 12 days after Scalabrine was stripped of his position, and it’s unprecedented that a playoff team terminates two assistant coaches just weeks before the postseason. Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group hears the decision to let go of Erman wasn’t made by Mark Jackson, who was the one that made the call to demote Scalabrine (Twitter link). However, Tim Kawakami of the Mercury News doesn’t think the pair of coaching moves are unrelated, and he sees a high level of instability within the organization (three Twitter links).

Erman was hired by the Warriors in 2011 after spending four years as an assistant with the Celtics. The ties he made with Tom Thibodeau during his tenure in Boston could result in a job offer from the Bulls this offseason, suggests K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter link). In the meantime, the Warriors will have to make do with their diminished coaching staff as the playoffs approach.