AJ next coach of the hornets?

[aexchange]

Johnson not ready to coach



Sunday April 06, 2003


Jimmy Smith


As they have in the past three months, the latest rumor regarding Paul Silas' future with the Hornets seemingly came out of nowhere.

A journalist in Fort Worth who covers the Dallas Mavericks telephoned, wondering if the scuttlebutt had merit. It went this way: Bob Bass, former president and general manager of the San Antonio Spurs, would be hiring former Spurs and current Mavs guard Avery Johnson as New Orleans' head coach once the season ended and the Hornets decided not to renew Silas' contract, which expires at the end of this season.


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In February, there was speculation out of Charlotte that Silas would be replaced over the All-Star break by coach-turned-television analyst Mike Fratello.

When that proved false, word out of Charlotte was that Silas would be "a good fit" for the new expansion franchise there.

Last week in Toronto, Silas was linked to the apparent soon-to-be vacancy with the Raptors, who are unhappy with Lenny Wilkens and reportedly are ready to replace him.

Silas' name also has been tied to a possible opening in Seattle.

But news of Johnson's "ascendancy" to a job for which there is no opening was somewhat surprising, and far more amusing than previous speculation.

Many agree that Johnson, a New Orleans native who recently played his 1,000th NBA game, will one day be a coach in the NBA. So it wasn't an unusual sight in the Dallas post-game dressing room on Tuesday to see Johnson diagramming plays for Mavs' third-year forward Eduardo Najera, Najera listening intently to a guy who is in his 15th NBA season.

"You didn't hear that rumor, did you?" Johnson said.

"As far as I know, I'm still under contract with the Mavericks. But coaching is in my future. At least that's what they tell me. That's what a lot of people tell me. I'm just going to see what happens. Fortunately, I'm in a position where I don't have to rush it."

Bass, the executive vice president of basketball operations for the Hornets, a team that still has a coach under contract, said Johnson would be a good NBA coach.

Eventually.

"He's got to pay his dues," Bass said, "and spend some time as an assistant."

To that end, Johnson's first NBA coaching job, not that he already isn't doing some tutoring, might be as an aide to a proven head coach.

"You've got to understand that some people say I'm the next coach of the Spurs," Johnson said. "Pop (Spurs coach Gregg Popovich) is telling everybody that. Nellie (Mavericks coach Don Nelson) is telling me that possibly he'd like me to join his staff next year.

"Bob Bass, obviously we have a long track record. So I'm just letting everybody talk right now. But I've got one more year left on my contract with the Mavericks, and I plan on playing next year."

Of course, Johnson said, his plans could be somewhat fluid. "Now if there's a situation that arises," he said, "I won't say I won't look at it. So I know I'm leaning that way (toward coaching). I just don't know what the future holds."

Bass was the one NBA executive who threw Johnson a personal flotation device in January 1991, one month after Johnson had been waived by the Denver Nuggets, his second stop after a brief stay with the Seattle SuperSonics.

Several times, Bass and the Spurs waived and then re-signed Johnson, who enjoyed the most productive years of his career in San Antonio from 1995-2001.

Johnson was a critical part of the Spurs' NBA championship team in 1998-99.

Now there's all this talk about him as a potential head coach.

Not bad for a guy who, as a kid, sneaked into the Superdome to watch the Jazz play.

The full-circle aspect of his NBA career hit Johnson on Tuesday night when Mavs owner Mark Cuban and Nelson honored him with the game ball from his 1,000th game in a pre-game ceremony before meeting the Hornets at the American Airlines Center.

"With me getting that ball for the 1,000 games before the game, and having the New Orleans Hornets being the opponents, knowing I was an advocate for them relocating down there, it was a great thing," Johnson said.

"And having all of my family in New Orleans watching the game, it really makes me feel good. You know, I'm probably one of the players from New Orleans who had the longest tenure in the NBA, and it makes you feel good."

Not good enough, though, to pack it all in for those coaching headaches just yet.

. . . . . . .

[mavsfanforever]

He has a pretty good chance of becoming a coach. I am not sure if it is with the hornets though. Its his hometown but I do not know anybody will take a risk at giving him head coaching job without him being an assistant coach for a few seasons.