Celtics hire Darren Erman as NBA Scouting Director

[Smokeeye123]

Hope he doesnt tape us .  (Per Woj)

[Fafnir]

Hope he doesnt tape us .  (Per Woj)

I wonder if the report coming out happened because the C's hired him. I don't think the timing is a coincidence.

[Evantime34]

Hope he doesnt tape us .  (Per Woj)

I wonder if the report coming out happened because the C's hired him. I don't think the timing is a coincidence.

The Golden State coaching staff seems like a mess. An organization can't flourish unless everyone is on the same page.

[Eddie20]

For those that don't know the details.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/10855864/former-golden-state-warriors-assistant-fired-secretly-recording-conversations

When Golden State Warriors assistant coach Darren Erman was fired earlier this month, the reason given was a "violation of company policy."

It turns out that Erman's violation was secretly recording conversations between the team's coaches and players, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.

Sources said Erman, who was coach Mark Jackson's second assistant, would record coaches' meetings, meetings between the coaches and players, and informal discussions among coaches that took place in the team's coaches room -- all without the participants' knowledge.

"He was taping everything," one source said. "Taping pregame speeches wouldn't have been that bad, but he was taping guys just sitting around talking in the coaches' office."

Sometimes Erman would be present during the tapings. Other times, he would leave the room and leave his phone behind to record conversations the other coaches were having.

It is unclear what Erman did with the recordings. The sources weren't sure whether he shared them with the club's owners or front-office executives.

"Was he taping it for himself or was he taping it for management? That's not known," a source said. "But he had a lot of communication with members of the front office."

The Warriors' other coaches began noticing a change in Erman's demeanor and behavior in March, a source said. A few weeks later, they discovered that he was recording them. After being caught, Erman told the club he had been recording the conversations for three weeks. Jackson kept Erman on his staff for another week before Warriors' management fired him on April 5.

Erman's dismissal was the second bizarre event involving Jackson's staff in less than two weeks. On March 25, management demoted first-year assistant Brian Scalabrine to the club's D-League affiliate in Santa Cruz.

Sources say the team made the move because Scalabrine exhibited a consistent pattern of disrespect toward Jackson and the other coaches. Mainly, he ignored and refused to speak with the other basketball coaches. At one point, Scalabrine went five weeks without speaking to Jackson, one source said.

Scalabrine even avoided the coaches on the team plane, sitting in a separate section, according to one source.

The odd behavior of Erman and Scalabrine is emblematic of the dysfunction that has recently engulfed the Warriors franchise. Although he led the Warriors to 51 wins this season and consecutive playoff appearances for the first time in 22 years, Jackson's job is widely rumored to be in jeopardy.

One source insists that Jackson's relationship with owner Joe Lacob and general manager Bob Myers is fine, which makes his shaky job status hard to understand.

[PhoSita]

Sounds like Erman was ownership / management's man, first and foremost, and he was probably working on orders to keep tabs on the locker room.  Probably because the higher ups didn't trust Jackson, for some reason.

As for Scal, it's hard to say what he's like in private, but as a broadcaster (and given his rep as a teammate), one would assume that he's a fairly nice, reasonable guy.  So if he was avoiding / ignoring Mark Jackson, and Jackson's close associates, have to think that there was some kind of disrespect going on there coming from Jackson's end.  (I'm imagining them mercilessly making fun of Scal for being a ginger and a white boy etc and Scal, hurt, turning into an introvert)

It's all pretty sketchy.  Sounds like there might be something a bit off with Jackson and his closer associates.

[D.o.s.]

Sounds like Erman was ownership / management's man, first and foremost, and he was probably working on orders to keep tabs on the locker room.  Probably because the higher ups didn't trust Jackson, for some reason.

As for Scal, it's hard to say what he's like in private, but as a broadcaster (and given his rep as a teammate), one would assume that he's a fairly nice, reasonable guy.  So if he was avoiding / ignoring Mark Jackson, and Jackson's close associates, have to think that there was some kind of disrespect going on there coming from Jackson's end.  (I'm imagining them mercilessly making fun of Scal for being a ginger and a white boy etc and Scal, hurt, turning into an introvert)

It's all pretty sketchy.  Sounds like there might be something a bit off with Jackson and his closer associates.

I think you're projecting that bit onto Scal -- did you watch the Scallenge? He's a dude who clearly talks ish like the jock that he is.

[footey]

I have no idea who is at fault regarding Scal, but the article seems to make him look like the problem.  There could be a major PR job being done here to save MJ's job.

MJ seems like a nice guy in front of the camera. But I sometimes wonder about his character.  For example, telling Clipper fans to stay away is very self-serving.  I know that Doc, who in my book is all class, really dislikes MJ.

[CDawg834]

The fact that the C's were so quick to hire him makes me believe that he wasn't the real problem over there.  I'd be curious if Ainge called Scal to get his take on Mark Jackson.

Here is my thought process on workplace and social issues: If you don't get along with one coworker, maybe it's just a personality conflict or a bad mix, and a change can be made to resolve it.  If there's a pattern of you not getting along with other people, then you're the problem.  What I'm seeing is a pattern of Jackson having issues with subordinates.

[D.o.s.]

The fact that the C's were so quick to hire him makes me believe that he wasn't the real problem over there.  I'd be curious if Ainge called Scal to get his take on Mark Jackson.

Here is my thought process on workplace and social issues: If you don't get along with one coworker, maybe it's just a personality conflict or a bad mix, and a change can be made to resolve it.  If there's a pattern of you not getting along with other people, then you're the problem.  What I'm seeing is a pattern of Jackson having issues with subordinates.

I think it's deeper than that -- my supposition is that ownership wants things done in a way that's different to Jackson's, and the assistant coaches are being more receptive to it than Jackson himself.

[PhoSita]

I think you're projecting that bit onto Scal -- did you watch the Scallenge? He's a dude who clearly talks ish like the jock that he is.

That's true.  But I usually assume that for most guys, what happens on the court stays on the court.  Maybe Scal soundly beat Jackson 1-on-1 and was a bit too pleased with himself about it. 

[wiley]

Sounds like Erman was ownership / management's man, first and foremost, and he was probably working on orders to keep tabs on the locker room.  Probably because the higher ups didn't trust Jackson, for some reason.

As for Scal, it's hard to say what he's like in private, but as a broadcaster (and given his rep as a teammate), one would assume that he's a fairly nice, reasonable guy.  So if he was avoiding / ignoring Mark Jackson, and Jackson's close associates, have to think that there was some kind of disrespect going on there coming from Jackson's end.  (I'm imagining them mercilessly making fun of Scal for being a ginger and a white boy etc and Scal, hurt, turning into an introvert)

It's all pretty sketchy.  Sounds like there might be something a bit off with Jackson and his closer associates.

That's an awfully big reach coming out of nowhere....Is Jackson not considered a fairly nice, reasonable guy?

[LooseCannon]

For those that don't know the details.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/10855864/former-golden-state-warriors-assistant-fired-secretly-recording-conversations

How many of the sources for that article have the first name "Mark" and/or the last name "Jackson"?

[PhoSita]

That's an awfully big reach coming out of nowhere....Is Jackson not considered a fairly nice, reasonable guy?

At one point I would have thought so.  But as somebody else said, when one person in a work place has a pattern of becoming estranged from / driving out colleagues, that is a major red flag.  It's hard for me to believe that Jackson hasn't played a significant role in his relationship with multiple assistant coaches -- who he chose for his own staff, presumably -- souring over the course of a single season.

[BleedGreen1989]

Must be a talented guy if the Celtics scooped him up so quick.

[gift]

Didn't Mark Jackson cause problems in his playing days with Utah? Tried turning the team against Stockton? Or was that someone else?