Grizzlies Hire Collins as Head Coach.
Doug Collins coached Michael Jordan in the early stages of their careers with the Chicago Bulls. Collins now has the chance to work with Jordan again, this time Collins has been hired as Coach by Jordan the GM.
Collins, 49, was hired by Jordan yesterday as the Grizzlies' fourth full-time coach in three years. Collins replaced Lionel Hollins, who was interim head coach, was released after the Grizzlies finished the season with a 22-60 record, the fourth-worst record in the National Basketball Association.
Said Collins: "The most important thing for me is that Michael is going to be the president here and that he and I are going to be working closely together. Whatever comes after that is gravy. Would I love for him to come back and play? Darn right I would. I would love to have Michael. But Michael is in a brand new role here and he is most competitive and driven person I know, so he will want to make Vancouver successful."
Both Jordan and Collins acknowledged yesterday that their player-coach relationship in Chicago was frosty. They eventually gained a mutual respect that grew over the years. Collins is regarded as an excellent strategist who gets the most out of his players. However, over time, his intense personality has worn on players.
Collins has a 258-197 career record in the regular season and a 15-23 record in the postseason. Terms of his deal were not disclosed, but he is believed to have signed a four-year deal for $8-10 million.
"I demand excellence, there's no question about that," Collins said. "I want things to be right and sometimes stories get embellished about how I am a certain way. I find myself to be a very good teacher of the game."
Collins coached Jordan with the Bulls from 1986 to 1989 and turned a struggling franchise into a playoff regular after one season. Collins was fired after the 1989 season, went into television broadcasting, then returned as coach and director of basketball operations of the Detroit Pistons from 1995 until midway through the 1998 season, when he was fired, in part, because of his contentious relationship with players.
This season was Hollin's first in the NBA after a successful career at the college level.
"About 11 or 12 days ago, Lionel and I had a nice little conversation and he had some skepticism about what his productivity had been up to that point," Jordan said. "I never gave up on Lionel and I don't think Lionel gave up on himself."
At Wednesday night's meeting, Jordan said, he told Hollins that Collins would take over as coach and, after some discussion, Hollins resigned. Jordan said he probably would have fired Hollins if the coach did not resign. Hollins signed a four-year, $2 million guaranteed contract when he was hired last summer as an assistant coach. It is believed a financial settlement was reached.
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