The Oklahoma City Thunder have fired head coach Scott Brooks, the team announced Wednesday.
“This is an extremely difficult decision on many levels,” general manager Sam Presti said in a statement. “This decision is not a reflection of this past season, but rather an assessment of what we feel is necessary at this point in time in order to continually evolve, progress and sustain. We determined that, in order to stimulate progress and put ourselves in the best position next season and as we looked to the future, a transition of this kind was necessary for the program.”
The Thunder missed the playoffs on the final day of the regular season this year, the first time they failed to make the postseason since 2008-09. The team was plagued with injuries, with reigning MVP Kevin Durant playing in only 27 games. Russell Westbrook also missed 15 games, and Serge Ibaka didn’t play in the final 18.
“He led us, man,” Durant said of Brooks. “He made sure everybody was emotionally stable because we had a lot of guys in and out of the lineup and he kept everybody together. That’s what your head coach is supposed to do. I can’t really say nothing about it because he did his job. He kept us together.”
Brooks told reporters last week that he expected to return as coach.
Brooks had a .620 winning percentage with the team and guided the Thunder to five playoff appearances in seven seasons — including three of the past four Western Conference finals and the NBA Finals in 2012. He was the NBA’s Coach of the Year in 2009-10.
NBA coaching sources continue to point to Billy Donovan and Kevin Ollie as prime candidates to succeed Brooks, given the close ties both have to Presti and Ollie’s well-documented friendship with Durant.
But Presti is also known as one of the most analytical and methodical team-builders in the league, which is expected to lead him to consider candidates beyond the two big names from the college game. One example of an out-of-the-box candidate is San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Ettore Messina, who ranks as one of the most successful head coaches Europe has ever seen and is well-regarded by Presti dating back to his days in the Spurs’ front office.
Sources told ESPN.com’s Marc Stein that Brooks, meanwhile, will instantly become a candidate in both Denver and Orlando, which are the only two teams besides Oklahoma City to currently have an opening.