The Oklahoma City Thunder have fired head coach Scott Brooks, the team announced Wednesday. The news was first reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, and comes following an injury-plauged and disappointing 2014-15 season in which the Thunder missed the playoff for the first time in five seasons.
Thunder general manager Sam Presti traveled to California on Wednesday to inform Brooks of the decision at his own home, Wojnarowski reports.
Presti called this an “extremely difficult decision on many levels” in an official statement.
“As we all know, this past year we had unique and challenging circumstances and as I have conveyed, not many people could have accomplished what Scott and this team were able to. Therefore, it is very important to state that 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,” Presti said. “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.”
Brooks began his coaching career as an assistant with Denver in 2003, where he remained until joining Sacramento’s staff in 2006. He became an assistant with the Seattle Supersonics before the 2007 season, and remained with the team after relocating to Oklahoma City as an assistant under head coach P.J. Carlesimo. Brooks was promoted to interim head coach early into the 2008-09 season after Carlesimo was let go following a 1-12 start, finishing the year with a 22-47 record as head coach. and was retained as head coach in the following offseason.
Brooks led the Thunder to the playoffs during his first full season the following year, losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round. The team progressed each year after, reaching the NBA Finals in the 2012, where they lost to the Miami Heat. The team reached the playoffs each season since up until this year, but has failed to reach the Finals again. Prior to becoming a coach, Brooks was a player in the NBA from 1988 to 1999, winning a championship as a backup point guard with the Houston Rockets in 1994.
Presti was sure to clarify that the decision to fire Brooks “wasn’t a reflection of the job Brooks did this season, but ultimately a long-view for the franchise,” according to Wojnarowski.
Brooks, with a record of 338-207, has a winning percentage of .620 during his seven-year career and won Coach of the Year in 2009-10. He is considered a candidate for the head coaching openings with the Orlando Magic and Denver Nuggets, according to Wojnarowski.
Former Thunder player and current UConn coach Kevin Ollie was named a possible candidate for the position earlier this week, but announced Wednesday that he has no plans to leave Connecticut. Ollie just finished his third season as the Huskies head coach, missing the NCAA Tournament one year after capturing the NCAA title as a No. 7 seed in 2014.
Wojnarowski maintained later on Wednesday that Ollie remains a candidate.
https://twitter.com/WojYahooNBA/status/590951699692531714
The Thunder are also reportedly interested in hiring University of Florida coach Billy Donovan, who has a personal relationship with Presti. Donovan has been at Florida since 1996, compiling a 467-186 record, reaching three Final Fours and winning national championships in 2006 and 2007. Donovan actually left Florida for the Orlando Magic head-coaching job in June of 2007, but backed out of the deal the following day and returned to Florida.
Florida went 16-17 in 2015, missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1998, but Donovan recently agreed to a contract extension earlier in April that will pay him close to $4 million per season through 2020.
We will keep you updated with more information as it comes in.
