Laimbeer Resigns as Shock Coach
Detroit Shock Coach Bill Laimbeer announced Monday that he would be stepping down as the team's head coach and general manager.
According to the Shock's Web site, Laimbeer said he wants to turn his focus to landing a job coaching in the NBA and he didn't want that to distract from the Shock's season.
Laimbeer said he's been dogged by questions recently about a possible future in the NBA coaching ranks and says that's why he's making the change now.
"My answer's always been very diplomatic: I'm having fun doing what I'm doing. If it comes one day, okay, great," Laimbeer said at news conference Monday. "But the best way to say it now is, yeah, I do want to go to the NBA and [be an] assistant coach, head coach. That's my passion, that's my goal, and so when someone asks me the question I want to say yes."
In seven years as Detroit's head coach and GM, Laimbeer won three WNBA titles and made four trips to the league's championship series, including trips to the past three consecutive WNBA Finals.
Laimbeer's assistants will share his responsibilities. Rick Mahorn will take over as head coach while Cheryl Reeve will remain on the bench and also assume duties as general manager.
What do you think? What does this mean for Detroit's season? And what does it mean for the rest of the league?
By
Melissa Rosenberg
|
June 15, 2009; 10:44 PM ET
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Posted by: guisher | June 16, 2009 6:57 AM | Report abuse
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Technically speaking, this sucks for the WNBA; first that Dierden / Beirden clown from Minnesota ups and quits 2 days before the season starts, now this? I swear, I don't understand how folks keep repeating the same stupid mistakes as their piers: Michael Cooper won a championship with the Sparks, and was acknowledged as a very good WNBA coach -- springboard to the NBA right? Wrong! He left only to fall on his face! Laimbeer will suffer the same fate; you can't quit your current job in the hopes that folks will see you really serious about wanting a new one! What ever happened to honoring your contract, and the faith that your team (and Shock fans) have placed in you? These WNBA coaching dudes, are some of the least decisive people on earth. The time to make these decisions is the OFF SEASON, not in the middle of the friggin' year. If the WNBA is to be taken so lightly by the men who coach in the league, why should any prospective employer take them seriously (when they claim to have coaching experience and/or championship rings)?