Lebron Wouldn't Be the First Coach Killer

Coach Killer: a player who's overall failures fall on someone else's shoulders, often the head coach.

This is what Lebron James believes he is not.

Lebron James went on a semi-rant just days after his most recent head coach, David Blatt, was relieved of his position. This move has come into question because of its timing. The Cavaliers sat atop the East with a 30-12 record. Blatt and the Cavaliers were just two wins away from becoming NBA Champions this past June. So why the firing? Cavs GM David Griffin spoke about how the team lacked chemistry, and that Blatt lacked the ability to garner respect from his players. Does this sound familiar?

The same allegations were brought about when Lebron took his talents to South Beach in 2011. There were serious accusations made that Lebron James wanted former and current Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra gone. There were talks that Spoelstra, also a rookie head coach at the time, couldn't handle the superstar players he had on his team. Still, Spoelstra managed to make it out alive.

Lebron James played his first two years in the NBA under head coach Paul Silas. Here is the Paul Silas firing explained by ESPN:

The dismissal came with 18 games left and the team clinging to the fifth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. James seems to have been the only player who saw the move coming.
“You could kind of tell the way the air was, how things were going around here, there was going to have to be a change,” said James, who scored a franchise-record 56 points Sunday. “I didn’t know it was going to be this soon.”

Then, Mike Brown coached Lebron for five seasons and was head coach for the epic collapse against the Boston Celtics in 2010, which ultimately led to Lebron's departure from Cleveland. Mike Brown was also fired.

You can add David Blatt to the list.

Lebron now must face some serious questions as to whether or not he had a say in Blatt's firing. Yet, have we seen this throughout NBA history? Lebron isn't the only prominent player to have been called a coach killer before.

Take the great Magic Johnson into account. A first year coach, in Paul Westhead, and a rookie sensation, in Magic Johnson, teamed up to win an NBA Championship in 1980. All was well, until Magic and Westhead had a heated dispute regarding the pace at which the Lakers were playing. Magic thought the Laker offense was unimaginative and slow. Does this sound familiar? Magic demanded a trade. The Lakers wouldn't dare trade the rising star, and thus Westhead was gone and replaced by Pat Riley. Big deal. The decision was a great one.

Take Dwight Howard's situation in Orlando as another example. Howard notoriously changed his mind, back and forth, on his desire to be traded from Orlando. Then head coach Stan Van Gundy followed up Dwight's drama with his own, publicly claiming Howard demanded his firing. This eventually led to Van Gundy's firing, as well as GM Otis Smith. Here is the infamous press conference.

Great players who haven't had the luxury off playing along side the great Phil Jackson, Pat Riley, or Gregg Popovich, ( Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'neal) of course would be labeled as coach killers. Had Michael Jordan or Shaq been dealt a mediocre head coach for most of their careers, they too would be talked about in this article. Great players need great head coaches who are on the same page. Not to say a mediorce coach can't win a title here and there, but the true dynasties had great coaches to back up and demand respect of their great players.

I see nothing wrong with Carmelo Anthony, Stephon Marbury or Lebron James being labeled coach killers. It is what they are. Had any of Phil Jackson's players not played for him, the same label would fall on those players as well.

One man cannot do it by himself.