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 from around the league:
- Steve Kerr is only focusing on the Knicks and Warriors and isn’t thinking about the Jazz, who reportedly have interest, or other openings, according to Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck, who also reiterates his earlier report that Kerr prefers to stay close to his home on the West Coast.
- George Karl said he felt bad about what happened to Jackson with the Warriors, tweets Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio. Karl said he’s interested in any other team with an opening, and mentioned the Pistons and Knicks specifically, according to Amico’s tweet.
- Karl was roommates with Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak in college, and though he hasn’t heard from the team yet, he expects to, reports Amico (Twitter link).
- The Timberwolves first choice to become their next head coach is Tom Izzo, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities. The team is waiting for a definitive no from Izzo before looking at other candidates, reports Wolfson.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.