After many years of calling for the axe to fall on their coach, the LA Clippers' fans finally got their wish after head coach Mike Dunleavy stepped down from his position. He will be replaced by Kim Hughes as the team's interim coach.
With just 32 games left in the season Dunleavy leaves the team with a 21-28 record, good for 21st place in the league. His decision to step down, according to the team, was “reached mutually” and Dunleavy will retain his position as the team’s general manager.
Dunleavy had been under pressure this season after starting the season 0-4 but after their longest road trip of the season which finished 2-6 both parties decided it was time for a change.
"I've had several conversations with our owner [Donald Sterling] concerning what we think is best for the team overall. We have discussed the possibility of my concentrating only on basketball operations. That option has always been available to me.
"I've come to the conclusion that this is the ideal time for me to direct my efforts toward the many personnel opportunities that lie before us, such as the trade market, the draft and the free-agent process. We fully expect to be active and productive on all those fronts,” Dunleavy said.
The 55-year-old has been in charge of basketball's most unlucky franchise since 2003 and despite the struggles leaves as the Clippers’ most successful coach with a 215-325 record and took the team to within one game of the NBA Finals.
"We fully agree with Mike that this is the right time to make this change. It just seems clear that the team needs a fresh voice and we hope that our players will respond in a positive way,” club president Andy Roeser said in a statement.
"As we approach the trade deadline, the NBA draft and the upcoming free-agent period, our team is very well positioned from a salary-cap standpoint. Mike's experienced input will be vitally important as we continue to develop our young talented nucleus and shape our team's future."
Even though his performance as a coach may be questionable his performance as a general manager has been somewhat better. He has positioned the club to have enough salary cap room this off-season to be major players in free agency. Last season he traded away Zach Randolph and has signed good players like Marcus Camby, who paid tribute to the outgoing coach.
"Mike was a good coach. He's been around the game for like 30 years. It was unfortunate how things turned out. I think he just got caught up in a lot of difficult circumstances," Camby said
Dunleavy’s departure is the third managerial change this year after Byron Scott was fired by the New Orleans Hornets and Lawrence Frank was sacked by the New Jersey Nets.
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