Houston Rockets Fire Kevin McHale; Could Byron Scott Be Next?

In his first game at the helm, the Rockets defeated the Portland Trail Blazers in overtime due in large part to a prayer three-pointer Corey Brewer hit at the buzzer.

Daryl Morey, the general manager, highlighted the urgency of the situation: “The team was not responding to Kevin McHale and we had to make the tough call”. The Western Conference isn’t as competitive as many thought heading into the season.

But on the first night of what they hope will be a turnaround to a miserable start that cost Kevin McHale his job, the Rockets showed their first real sign of fight in the season. We know this team can win. “You got to stay positive and fight through it. All this stuff will build our character”.

“Since I’ve been here, the team has never played this badly”, said Rockets owner Leslie Alexander. “I know we could figure something out for him in some capacity, but I think he’s just in a wait and see mode”.

Houston now sit 11th in the Western Conference at 4-7, but an array of former National Basketball Association stars have said that this is because of individual players more than McHale.

With this development, there were some who couldn’t help but wonder if Los Angeles Lakers head coach Byron Scott would follow soon.

Rockets players praised McHale during their playoff run last season, calling him a player’s coach.

Bickerstaff is in his fifth season with the Rockets after spending the previous four seasons as an assistant coach with Minnesota. “I’m so thankful to him”. When you look at their team over the last few years, their roster was constantly in flux, and he just did an fantastic job putting that together and bringing those guys back from down 3-1 in the conference semifinals. “It’s to get back to who we were, who we’ve been”, Bickerstaff said of his plan. “I’m hurt that he’s not here, and I’m hurt that I won’t get to see him every day”. Harden further stated that his “ears are just locked in and focused in on what he’s saying” since Kevin McHale had a championship history as a player with the Boston Celtics.

The blame on the Rockets’ struggles early this season is not all on McHale however.

After losing four straight games, the organisation chose to pull the pin on his three-year, $16.8 million contract.

“I don’t agree with the firing”, Stevens said. He didn’t get a triple-double Wednesday night, but 43 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in a 110-103 win over New Orleans is still a pretty good night.