This last week has brought upon us some interesting news in the NBA.

In the past few days two coaches have been fired from their respective teams and will be left scrambling for new jobs come the Summer.

The two teams impacted by the coaching changes… Oklahoma City Thunder and Washington Wizards.

These are two very different situations and I’d like to review both. First off, coach PJ Carlesimo, formerly of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

In his first season last year with the Seattle Supersonics, Carlesimo helped build Kevin Durant into the Rookie of the Year and the Sonics to an overall record of 20-62. Honeslty, sounds bad, but could’ve been a lot worse with a rookie head coach and a very young roster. Carlesimo brought his experience as an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs to the Sonics bench and hoped to make a name for himself.

He made a name for himself… the coach that didn’t allow Durant to play his natural position. Quick note on that topic, it will be interesting to see how the next coach uses Durant in the Thunder line up.

After starting this season 1-13 in a new city with new fans, it’s not a surprise that management felt the need to prove to their fans that they want to win. I’m sure there will be plenty of changes throughout the season and off season coming to this team, but for now, the interim head coach will have to find the right mix in order to satisfy the fans.

I can’t say that this firing was unexpected, but it was somewhat unexpected. The Thunder are in a new city and haven’t really invested much money into players recently. They haven’t had a big name star since Gary Payton got traded and Ray Allen filled in for a little while. They gave up Vladimir Radmanovic to the Clippers and now have to settle for Chris Wilcox and Kevin Durant. Hopefully the future brightens up but for now I wish the best to PJ Carlesimo.

The other coach fired is Eddie Jordan. Jordan has been the coach of the Washington Wizards for the last couple years and has led the team to the playoffs losing to the Cavaliers the last three years. His star player has been Gilbert Arenas, a guy that seems to talk a lot more than he plays and that truly has messed up the karma of the entire Wizards franchise. I truly believe if Arenas talked a bit less he would be a lot more successful.

Either way, the Wizards are currently dead last in the Eastern Conference with a horendous 1-10 record. The team has played worse than they ever have and are truly struggling to put together some wins. The interesting part is the fact that the one team they did beat, the Utah Jazz, is the 2nd best team they’ve played.

The fact that the Wizards has been missing it’s two starters doesn’t help coach Jordan much, but the fact remains, they are the worst team in the conference and a change is necessary. Even though one may take the time and look at Jordan’s past statistics as a coach and say, “well he’s been above .500 for most of his coaching career,” one must also take into consideration that his teams have underperformed in the playoffs and have failed to advance into real contention.

I look forward to seeing what changes both of these teams make and how the interim coache’s will handle their teams so early into the season. With only a few weeks gone by, the season is young and these new coaches have a chance to make great names for themselves. Good luck to all, including the coaches, staff, players, and fans!