“They are always moving the beams.”
These words are said on a regular basis by qualified, aspiring black coaches and general managers, whose vast experience has never been enough to land the coveted dream job in the NBA. Those words came up again when the Minnesota Timberwolves chose to leave the franchise to occupy their debut as head coach on Sunday, after Ryan Saunders was released from his duties after a 103-99 loss to the New York Knicks, which broke the record for the Wolves for a league -worst 7-24.
Instead of promoting associate head coach David Vanterpool, who is black, the organization hired Toronto Raptors assistant coach Chris Finch, who is white. To be fair, Finch is qualified for the position, but it is atypical for a franchise to run to hire a new coach from another team in the middle of the season.
“What should we do? Coach in college? What else should we do? What’s the project?” Said a former black NBA assistant coach to The Undefeated. “Somebody help us, because clearly what we know now is not helping us” .
Vanterpool, 47, certainly has a resume worthy of a head coaching opportunity. A former player whose 12-year career spanning NBA, Continental Basketball Association and overseas, Vanterpool was an assistant coach for the Portland Trail Blazers from 2012 to 2019. He played a vital role in helping Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum become stars. (Lillard and McCollum spoke on social media after Vanterpool was passed over on Sunday).
Vanterpool left Portland in 2019, taking a job as an associate head coach in the rebuilding of Minnesota. Last season, he was also interviewed as the head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans, Houston Rockets and Chicago Bulls.
With 41 games remaining in the Wolves season, the immediate expectation was that the team would provisionally promote Vanterpool to see if he was worthy of the full-time role. Cleveland Cavaliers coach JB Bickerstaff and Rockets coach Stephen Silas, both black, were former interim head coaches. Giving Vanterpool the chance to be an interim coach could have been a path to a full-time coach position in Minnesota or elsewhere with a job well done. But Vanterpool was passed over by Finch, who is a longtime colleague of Wolves president Gersson Rosas. Vanterpool, who declined to comment on this story, accepted the opportunity to remain on the team.
There are currently seven black NBA coaches among 30 teams in a league where about 75% of the players are African American. The news that Vanterpool would not become eighth shook the Black coaching fraternity.
“It’s typical of the black NBA experience,” a black NBA coach told The Undefeated. “They use their skill set during difficult times, but when it comes time to reward you with an opportunity, they always seem to find a reason not to and so expect you to remain a good soldier.”
Another black NBA coach told The Undefeated: “Fire Ryan. Hire Finch the same day. Pass by David Vanterpool. Crazy. Shaking my head. “
Sources say Rosas decided before Saunders’ dismissal that Vanterpool was not a good fit as a possible replacement. But Vanterpool has a strong relationship with several Wolves players, including the most notable stars Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell. According to a source, Towns was not consulted during the hiring process.
Towns said at a news conference on Tuesday that he was happy for Finch and would support him, but also recognized Vanterpool as an incredible coach.
“I want to take the time to acknowledge the incredible work these technical assistants have done, especially David Vanterpool,” said Towns. “Blacks deserve to have the opportunity to be a head coach in this league and it would be remiss if I didn’t mention the fantastic job he has done and what it has meant for this organization since joining here.
“I am very excited to be able to be coached by coach Finch and play for him, but I also want to recognize the men of color that we have on this coaching staff, especially the one who will soon be the head coach of this league and I will be very excited for that moment to he. “
For now, Vanterpool will have to wait.
The Wolves will be led by Finch, who once coached the British national team and has more than 24 years of experience as a coach in the NBA and in the G League. Before training in Toronto, Finch, 51, was an associate head coach for 2017 to 2020, assistant coach of the Denver Nuggets during the 2016-17 season and assistant coach of the Rockets from 2011 to 2016.
In Houston, Finch worked with Rosas as coach of the G League Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Finch took the Vipers to a record of 67-33 in two seasons. In 2010, he won a title and the Dennis Johnson Trophy (G League Coach of the Year award).
Upon accepting the job in Minnesota, Finch became the first assistant coach to leave a team during an NBA season to become the head coach of another team since the Memphis Grizzlies hired Lionel Hollins from the Milwaukee Bucks in 2009 after Marc’s dismissal. Iavaroni.
While Rosas got the trainer he wanted, he now it is being questioned about the importance of adding value to diversity after snubbing Vanterpool. For his credit, the Wolves hired people like Sachin Gupta, who is Indian, as executive vice president of basketball operations, a black assistant general manager, Joe Branch, and a woman, Bri Bauer, as vice president of communications and engagement, during your possession.
Just before becoming the first Latin president of NBA basketball operations in 2019, Rosas talked to The Undefeated about his dreams for Latinos in the league.
“The beauty of our league is its diversity,” said Rosas. “And not just in terms of training or culture, but it’s the mindset, the approaches. It is not done in just one way. The different perspective you have in an organization is the value of having the team on the court and the team outside the court. Building this together is something that I love. “
Rosas said during an introductory press conference for Finch on Monday that he considered Vanterpool and Wolves’ assistant Pablo Prigioni, an Argentinian Italian, to replace Saunders. But he thought the best way was to look outside the organization.
“We performed very thorough and diligent processes here,” said Rosas. “If you talk to any of our employees, especially any of our coaches, we invest a lot in them and I want them to be successful. I don’t think anyone will ever think that I will reject a candidate that I think can help us at the highest level. The reality is that, as we work on this process, our focus, our goal, our goal is where we are now cannot continue. We cannot continue on the path we are on.
“Where is our record, where we play at both ends of the track. That is what led us to that decision. This is what led us to change. And for me, if we’re going to do anything, there has to be a purpose behind it and we wanted to be bold and direct as soon as the opportunity with Toronto became available. We were very aggressive because, with Chris, we have a guy here with whom we share a vision, we share a philosophy and we feel very confident in his ability to impact this team. And, unfortunately, with our struggles here over the past year and a half, the ability to change that narrative would be difficult from an internal perspective. “
Ultimately, Rosas hired Finch for a multi-year deal, and he did so, according to sources, without having a diverse group of qualified coaching candidates going through the interview process. So, even if Vanterpool wasn’t the guy, there were certainly several other coaches worthy of being interviewed. A former black NBA scout told The Undefeated that he was surprised that Rosas did not consider a diverse group of candidates.
Towns says he understands the reaction of a colored coach not to be considered strongly for the vacancy of the main coach of the Wolves.
“For what my job is, there are many incredible men of color out there who deserve the opportunity to lead a team and run an organization and have the chance to make their mark in this league not with a shirt, but with a suit. And, I mean it with meaning, ”said Towns.
“But, as I said, it would be remiss if I didn’t mention the incredible work that David Vanterpool did and, as a man who looks like me, I can’t wait to see him get a job where he can thrive and be a head coach and lead a team. We are very honored and blessed to have him here on the coaching staff and to continue learning from him and absorb all the wisdom and experience he has as a professional and also as a coach ”.
Of course, breaking the NBA’s worst record would have been a huge task for Vanterpool. But the long list of qualified African American assistant coaches in the NBA would have celebrated and supported such an opportunity for him. Instead, Vanterpool being passed over and the lack of a diverse group of coach candidates is just the latest example of goalposts being moved to black NBA coaches.
A former black NBA assistant said of young black coaches who hope to become a head coach:
“It’s disheartening.”