It's a curious move, axing an assistant coach with less than two weeks remaining in the season. It's one the Golden State Warriors felt they needed to make, however, and with little in the way of specifics, it's tough to get a handle on whether it was the right move.
On Saturday, the team relieved Darren Erman from his duties as an assistant for non-basketball reasons, the second time in as many weeks an assistant had been taken off the staff. Previously, Brian Scalabrine had been reassigned to the D-League due to a "difference in philosophies."
Erman is said to have been removed for a violation of company policy. On Saturday, general manager Bob Myers and head coach Mark Jackson both commented on the situation.
Myers:
Obviously, the timing is unfortunate, but we hold all of our employees, whether in basketball operations or other aspects of the business, accountable for their actions and to the same standard. We move forward and thank Darren for his contributions.
Jackson:
He made a mistake. He owns it. He's done a lot for me. He's done a lot for this organization, and I'm pulling for him to make a comeback. I'm pulling for him to move on and become a great coach, and I believe that can happen.
It's just tough. I'm pulling for him. The right decision was made, and we move forward, but certainly I'm pulling for him to bounce back and get back on the road that he was on.
Jackson also tried to assuage fears that all of the change around the team is poorly timed and threatens to derail Golden State's playoff push.
"A great pastor said, 'You cannot fix the foundation in the middle of a storm. It's too late then.' The foundation has been laid, and it's going to hold up," Jackson said.
He better hope he's right, as he'll enter the summer with just a year left on his contract and rumors circulating that the organization could look to replace him. The Warriors seem relatively safe in a playoff position, but they've lost three times in the past six games and five times in their past 11, making them one of the West's coldest teams entering the postseason.
