White Mamba refuses assistant coaching offer by Tom Thibodeau in favour of a broadcasting job at Boston ...
Brian Scalabrine, the 6 foot 9 forward who played for the Chicago Bulls last season, has turned down a coaching offer by Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau to become a sports caster for the Boston Celtics.
Scalabrine played 5 seasons for the Celtics, and former Celtics coach Thibodeau brought him to the Bulls when he became the head coach of the Chicago franchise back in 2010. Scalabrine played the last two seasons for the Bulls,
averaging 4.4 minutes in 28 games last season, but retired from the league at the end of the season.
Thibodeau wanted Scalabrine as an assistant under him as he thought that Scalabrine would help in teaching his system to the roster, one of the primary reasons he brought him to the Bulls in the first place in 2010.
However, Scalabrine has decided to take up a broadcasting job for the Celtics this fall.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports said on Twitter:
“Brian Scalabrine has turned down coaching job with Bulls and will call games for Comcast Sports New England this season, he tells Y! Sports. Scalabrine will do colour analysis on 11 games for the Celtics, as well as some studio
work. “A trial run for both of us,” Scalabrine told Y!”
“Scalabrine isn’t prepared to say he’s retired from playing in the NBA but concedes, “I had zero opportunities. Not some, but zero,” added Wojnarowski.
Scalabrine told Wojnarowski that saying no to Thibodeau was one of the hardest things he has ever had to do, because of the respect the coach commands from his players. However, he felt that a broadcasting job was something he
could see himself doing in the future. Scalabrine played 11seasons in the NBA, 5 of which he played for the Boston Celtics from 2005 to 2010.
He was a bench player throughout his career, averaging 13 minutes per game over his career. He will now be covering games for the Celtics from next season onwards for Comcast SportsNet New England. Although his new gig is a natural
progression for his career, Scalabrine will surely be missed on the court by Celtics as well as Bulls fans next season.
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