Ignore the billboard. Hire the right coach for the right reasons.

[Celtics4ever]

I agree it should be the best person available, whomever that happens to be, and not done foolishly to make a statement.  Doing it solely to make a statement would be idiotic.   They both seem qualified to me, in terms of their experience.  But I am sure we've all heard Forsberg say they should make a statement.   No, they should hire the best coach, period.

Man this just reeks of misogyny . We fans don't know anything about any of the candidates. How do you know Chauncey will be a good coach but Kara won't? The actual only difference you bring up is gender. You've even compared soft spokenness to being female. Just a yikes for me on this one.

It will come down to whether players respect the new coach.   None of us know if that is the case though their is much evidence that they did respect Kara Lawson.  But are they virtue signaling or did they really mean it.   None of  us knows.  I served under a few woman sergeants while in the service and in that case people respected the rank and soldiered just as hard as they would anyone else and that was in the 90s.  Sometimes women have to be a lot tougher to make it in a male dominated field.

[Smartacus]

Man this just reeks of misogyny . We fans don't know anything about any of the candidates. How do you know Chauncey will be a good coach but Kara won't? The actual only difference you bring up is gender. You've even compared soft spokenness to being female. Just a yikes for me on this one.


Edited: Word choice.

Yikes all you all you like. Throw in a big yikes. Note though that I did not bring up gender, the billboard did.

The person who wrote the billboard wants the team to 'shake things up' and demands them to hire one of the 2 women candidates. I'd argue that Hammon is closer in experience to Sam Cassel than she is to Lawson since she's been in the NBA coaching system for the better part of a decade and Lawson spent 1 year with the Celtics before taking the Duke job but the person who wrote the billboard wants either Lawson or Hammon.

How do you know Chauncey will be a good coach but Kara won't?

I know Chauncey has lead a locker room and has been a part of NBA finals teams. I've heard that he's universally respected among NBA circles. I know very little about Kara Lawson since she hasn't done anything yet.

You've even compared soft spokenness to being female.

Have you heard Becky Hammon speak? She is soft spoken just like Brad is soft spoken. Eric Spoelstra is soft spoken and he's won titles. I haven't heard Kara Lawson speak much so I am not sure either way. Since we went through all of the trouble to change the front office structure though I think it would be beneficial to hire a coach who is not like the last coach.

[Erik]

Smartacus posts a well thought out and acceptable position about not hiring someone solely due to their physical characteristics.
Board: misogynist

Grow up. Fast.

[gift]

"Becky Hammond and Kara Lawson are both qualified candidates for coaching"

Yeah. It's like the OP put that in there just to make him (or her I suppose) feel better about the blatant misogyny.

Blatant or projected?

Pretty blatant. The post might as well start with, "I'm not a misogynist but..."

He says we know very little about the coaching schemes or experience of Lawson or Hammon but then advocates for two candidates without bringing up their schemes or coaching experience at all. His criticisms of those advocating for Lawson or Hammon is really telling on himself.

fwiw, I'm a Cassell guy.

Gender is the only variable you're seeing there? So maybe a little projection there?

[SDceltGuy]

Stupid billboard.  Hire the best person, not a woman.

At least the OP said they were both qualified coaches. You took it to Defcon 1.

I have no interest in this franchise being the guinea pig for a meaningless social experiment and attempting to earn some twitter woke points.  All I care about is getting the best coach - and that billboard only cares about giving someone with boobs this job. 

[liam]

"Becky Hammond and Kara Lawson are both qualified candidates for coaching"

Yeah. It's like the OP put that in there just to make him (or her I suppose) feel better about the blatant misogyny.

They are both qualified candidates so either would be a good choice. I guess this is just a dog days story about nothing...

[liam]

Stupid billboard.  Hire the best person, not a woman.

At least the OP said they were both qualified coaches. You took it to Defcon 1.

I have no interest in this franchise being the guinea pig for a meaningless social experiment and attempting to earn some twitter woke points.  All I care about is getting the best coach - and that billboard only cares about giving someone with boobs this job.

Billboard mentions two well-qualified candidates it doesn't say hire an unqualified woman.

[Kernewek]

The extremely vocal supporters are not interested in the prospective coach's schemes or professional experience or ability to lead a locker room. They know little about who[they] are as people. They are only interested in which demographic boxes the potential coach checks.

The Celtics are on the verge of contention and the Head Coach is far too important a position to be chosen based on anything other than merit and organizational fit.

Hire the right candidate. I think it should be Chauncey or Sam Cassell.

Too bad Ainge stepped down. Otherwise this could be solved by Hammond taking the Trailblazers job and we could read stories about how close the Celtics were to hiring her. 

This post was possibly worth this thread, though.

[Moranis]

Man this just reeks of misogyny . We fans don't know anything about any of the candidates. How do you know Chauncey will be a good coach but Kara won't? The actual only difference you bring up is gender. You've even compared soft spokenness to being female. Just a yikes for me on this one.


Edited: Word choice.

Yikes all you all you like. Throw in a big yikes. Note though that I did not bring up gender, the billboard did.

The person who wrote the billboard wants the team to 'shake things up' and demands them to hire one of the 2 women candidates. I'd argue that Hammon is closer in experience to Sam Cassel than she is to Lawson since she's been in the NBA coaching system for the better part of a decade and Lawson spent 1 year with the Celtics before taking the Duke job but the person who wrote the billboard wants either Lawson or Hammon.

How do you know Chauncey will be a good coach but Kara won't?

I know Chauncey has lead a locker room and has been a part of NBA finals teams. I've heard that he's universally respected among NBA circles. I know very little about Kara Lawson since she hasn't done anything yet.

You've even compared soft spokenness to being female.

Have you heard Becky Hammon speak? She is soft spoken just like Brad is soft spoken. Eric Spoelstra is soft spoken and he's won titles. I haven't heard Kara Lawson speak much so I am not sure either way. Since we went through all of the trouble to change the front office structure though I think it would be beneficial to hire a coach who is not like the last coach.

Kara Lawson played college ball for one of the most legendary basketball coaches ever in Pat Summit.  She was then the 5th pick in the WNBA draft, won a WNBA title, won an Olympic Gold Medal (leading scorer in the Gold Medal game), and played professionally at the highest level for 13 years.  She then went into broadcasting for a couple of years before joining the Celtics as an assistant coach working closely with Smart before landing the Duke head coaching job.  She has just as much, if not more, qualifications than Cassell or Billups and unlike those two, has actually worked with the Celtics. 

[Roy H.]

LarBrd33 and I were talking, and we agreed that Dawn Staley (his suggestion) would make a good candidate.  You would have to surround her with good assistant coaches, but is there anything that she hasn’t done at the basketball level? Credentials wise, is she any worse than Brad was coming into the league?

I absolutely agree, hire the best person for the job. Without all of the available information, I can’t tell you who that is. I do think that somebody likes Staley belongs in the conversation though.  I would be much more inclined to offer her an interview than Kara Lawson, who doesn’t have the same resume.

[gift]

The extremely vocal supporters are not interested in the prospective coach's schemes or professional experience or ability to lead a locker room. They know little about who[they] are as people. They are only interested in which demographic boxes the potential coach checks.

The Celtics are on the verge of contention and the Head Coach is far too important a position to be chosen based on anything other than merit and organizational fit.

Hire the right candidate. I think it should be Chauncey or Sam Cassell.

Too bad Ainge stepped down. Otherwise this could be solved by Hammond taking the Trailblazers job and we could read stories about how close the Celtics were to hiring her. 

This post was possibly worth this thread, though.

The reason I don't dismiss the original post is because its criticism seems to be mostly of a certain motivation for the next coaching hire. I must admit, the billboard is odd in that the chances seem statistically interesting if the two best choices are Hammon and Lawson in either order. Whether one or both of them is the best fit, does it seem likely that the other would be the definitive second best choice?

[Roy H.]

And yes, gift and the OP are right:  those behind the billboard are pushing an agenda, where the criteria is “hire a qualified woman” rather than “hire the most qualified person”.  Pointing that agenda out isn’t misogynistic.

[Kernewek]

The reason I don't dismiss the original post is because its criticism seems to be mostly of a certain motivation for the next coaching hire. I must admit, the billboard is odd in that the chances seem statistically interesting if the two best choices are Hammond and Lawson in either order. Whether one or both of them is the best fit, does it seem likely that the other would be the definitive second best choice?

Not that you asked, but my feelings on the matter are as follows:

1) The billboard is reductive, as is all billboard/bumper sticker logic. You don't have very much space, so you have to make a very basic point. This is a given, we presume, when we look at billboards or bumper stickers. Maybe it isn't.

2) The tautological reaction that the only reason to hire a woman would be for "woke points" (i.e. you hire a woman because she is a woman) is more or less beneath everyone in this thread.

The C's aren't going to hire a coach to do anything other than win basketball games (even if next season is a wash). It's the same rationale behind how we wound up with the first African-American head coach, but in reverse. If this conversation was taking place a few decades ago, it's very easy to see how Mahk from Quinzee would say that you shouldn't hire an African-American head coach because he wasn't the best available option, even if it was Bill Russell.

"He's never coached".
"I have no interest in this franchise being the guinea pig for a meaningless social experiment".

and so on.

In other words, when it comes to this discussion "whichever side may call itself the victor, there are no winners, but all are losers".

[Big333223]

"Becky Hammond and Kara Lawson are both qualified candidates for coaching"

Yeah. It's like the OP put that in there just to make him (or her I suppose) feel better about the blatant misogyny.

Blatant or projected?

Pretty blatant. The post might as well start with, "I'm not a misogynist but..."

He says we know very little about the coaching schemes or experience of Lawson or Hammon but then advocates for two candidates without bringing up their schemes or coaching experience at all. His criticisms of those advocating for Lawson or Hammon is really telling on himself.

fwiw, I'm a Cassell guy.

Gender is the only variable you're seeing there? So maybe a little projection there?

Smartacus:

Now that there are two high profile female candidates for the head coaching positions many people in Massachusetts are foaming at the mouth to hire one of them.

Becky Hammon and Kara Lawson are both qualified candidates for coaching but I do not believe for one second that the majority of support they are getting has anything to do with basketball.

He's pretty explicit that he thinks Lawson and Hammon are only being pushed by fans because of their gender.

[gift]

"Becky Hammond and Kara Lawson are both qualified candidates for coaching"

Yeah. It's like the OP put that in there just to make him (or her I suppose) feel better about the blatant misogyny.

Blatant or projected?

Pretty blatant. The post might as well start with, "I'm not a misogynist but..."

He says we know very little about the coaching schemes or experience of Lawson or Hammon but then advocates for two candidates without bringing up their schemes or coaching experience at all. His criticisms of those advocating for Lawson or Hammon is really telling on himself.

fwiw, I'm a Cassell guy.

Gender is the only variable you're seeing there? So maybe a little projection there?

Smartacus:

Now that there are two high profile female candidates for the head coaching positions many people in Massachusetts are foaming at the mouth to hire one of them.

Becky Hammon and Kara Lawson are both qualified candidates for coaching but I do not believe for one second that the majority of support they are getting has anything to do with basketball.

He's pretty explicit that he thinks Lawson and Hammon are only being pushed by fans because of their gender.

Yeah, that's not misogyny. He's criticizing a certain bias, not women's ability.