Westphal's job was on the line, owner
Jerry Colangelo wanted the players to know their employment wasn't exactly
etched in stone, either.
PHOENIX -- If rumors were going to circulate that Phoenix Suns coach Paul
Westphal's job was on the line, owner
Jerry Colangelo wanted the players to know their employment wasn't exactly
etched in stone, either.
"I was the story for a couple of days," Westphal said. "Now somebody else -- or something else -- is the story. That's just the way it is."
Westphal received a two-year contract extension last season, believed to be worth about $1.5 million per season and filled with incentive clauses. But when the Suns got off to a struggling start this season, in part because of injuries to Danny Manning and Kevin Johnson and the trade of Dan Majerle to Cleveland, the critics began re-examining Westphal.
"They asked me whether I was concerned, and I said I'm always concerned," Colangelo said. "They asked me if I was evaluating, and I said I'm always evaluating. That's what I do.
"But look a little more closely: In 20 years, I've had four coaches -- John MacLeod, Cotton Fitzsimmons, John Wetzel and Paul. The last 13 years, we've had the third-best regular-season record in the NBA. The last seven, we've had the best record. And we have one of the highest payrolls.
"So when all of this came up, I went in to talk to the players. I looked them in the eye and said I've given them everything I have, individually and as a team, that they beg for nothing. I said, 'Tell me you're giving me everything you have.'"
THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN a veiled reference to players sitting out practice (primarily Barkley and Johnson) but still expecting to be in the starting lineup. It also might have been a reference to John "Hot Rod" Williams struggling to find his niche with the team after arriving from Cleveland in the Majerle trade. It might even have been a reference to some of the players still looking over their shoulder for Majerle, who had been an explosive 3-point shooter and strong defender.
Whatever, Colangelo wanted the Suns to know they were "Paul's team to coach."
"He has a unique approach, in that he's not as disciplined or as structured as a lot of coaches, at least from the outside looking in," Colangelo said.
"But I've always believed it's only appropriate to make a change when the coach loses his players, and that hasn't happened. The best way to say it is: he's my coach 'til it's time."
And if and when it is time, Westphal would be unique in another aspect: Colangelo said that "whenever it's over, he gets paid for another two years. How many coaches have that?"
WESTPHAL IS IN HIS FOURTH season coaching the Suns, having rung up some impressive numbers: 62-20 in 1992-93, 56-26 in '93-94, 59-23 last season.
"This isn't real life," Westphal said. "Watching Christopher Reeve (the actor paralyzed in a tragic horseback-riding accident) on TV, hearing him say things are better because he can spend some time off his respirator, that's real life."
But what was he supposed to think when it was being openly speculated that his successor could be Fitzsimmons, now a Suns executive; Paul Silas, a current assistant, or Danny Ainge, a former Suns guard now working as a TNT analyst?
"It's uncomfortable to be sitting here answering questions on whether I should be fired," Westphal admitted. "How can you answer that? This is not an ideal place for the focus to be.
"... I never live or die with what people say about me. As far as I know, I'm not being hung in effigy."
Still ...
"You get a label, and you spend the rest of your career trying to live down that label. I'm not here to wage a PR campaign to show everybody how tough I am or how laid-back I am or whatever else they want me to be."
All Colangelo wants is a product that fits the state-of-the-art America West Arena facilities.
"I don't think it's appropriate for everyone to camp out and wait for some axe to fall," Colangelo said. "We will concentrate on getting our team healthy and ready to get the job done. We've got a tough, tough season ahead of us. This season is far from over."
Tyrone Hill's recovery from an auto accident that left him with trauma to his spine and numbness on the right side of his body has been agonizing. When the Cleveland forward felt hot water on his feet during a shower, he saw it as a breakthrough. "I called my mom, and said 'I got my feeling back,'" he said. "You're telling your body one thing, but your body is doing something else. I'm not going to let anybody tell me I can't play again." ...
Exactly how did Scotty Robertson, a former Detroit coach and Phoenix assistant, surface on Pat Riley's Miami staff? "I was sitting home, getting ready to go duck hunting when I got a call," Robertson said. "Afterward, I called Jerry Colangelo to thank him for putting in a good word for me, but Jerry said he hadn't talked to Pat. I don't know what it was." ...
When Boston coach-GM M.L. Carr, a raucous bench jockey, kept telling Chicago's Scottie Pippen that he was getting all the calls, Pippen wasn't biting. Carr: "What should I do to get a call?" Pippen: "Make a trade." ... And what do the awful Sixers need? "We've been playing with a short team all year, without all our guys," Clarence Weatherspoon said. "We need rest and subs." ...
Can Sacramento rookie point guard Tyus Edney play? "Forget his physical talents," said Isiah Thomas, the former Detroit All-Star guard and now the Toronto Raptors' VP. "He's not going to break down mentally. I can see it in a player's eyes. Forget the smile." ...
Charles Barkley insists he no longer holds a grudge against the Sixers, his first team, but wonders why they've been so bad. "They've got some talent," Barkley said. "I love Vernon Maxwell. I don't care what anybody says, I've always wanted Max and Dennis Rodman on my team. Those guys can play. (With the Sixers), it's talent, it's working together. We're experiencing a little of that." ...
When the early All-Star balloting returns were announced and Sacramento's Mitch Richmond wasn't among the West's top 10 guards, there was one very unhappy fan in town. "My 8-year-old daughter, Emily, filled out a ballot and voted for him," Kings coach Garry St. Jean said. Richmond has been named to three All-Star teams and was last season's All-Star MVP. ... When 35-year-old Dale Ellis of Denver scorched Dallas for 30 points, Mavericks coach Dick Motta said, "Our scouting report said to stay at home with Dale. I think we stayed home instead of coming to the gym." ...
Finally, a bit of philosophy from Indiana center Rik Smits, battling back after ankle surgery: "When I feel good, I can move better, and I can make quick moves toward the basket, but I also might throw up a few shots that maybe I shouldn't. I think you play with more concentration when you're hurt."
In addition to writing this exclusive column for SportsLine USA, Phil Jasner covers the NBA for the Philadelphia Daily News.
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