Golden State Warriors head coach Mark Jackson led his team to a 51-win season, but his job status remains very much up in the air. After pulling off a 109-105 Game 1 upset against the LA Clippers, Andre Iguodala and his teammates talked about their efforts to keep their beloved coach employed. Per the San Jose Mercury News :
The Warriors’ Andre Iguodala said after the win that he heard an ESPN report that Jackson “is going to be gone.”
“We’re trying to save our coach,” Iguodala said. “Every game is pressure for us.”
Stephen Curry supported the notion that the Warriors have taken it upon themselves as players to take care of business in the playoffs so that talk about Jackson’s job security would subside.
“It was more the message along those lines that we as players can control the vibe of what’s going on,” Curry said before practice at UCLA. “If we’re losing and not playing the way we’re supposed to, obviously people will start looking for answers and the head coach will get most of that blame. But if we go out and play 100 percent every night, take advantage of every opportunity out in front of us, there’s nothing they can say about it.”
On the eve of Game 2 at Staples Center, Curry was among a majority of Warriors players who attended Easter service at Jackson’s Southern California church and heard their coach preach. Curry said doing so helped team unity and that Jackson’s faith has allowed the coach to keep perspective.
“All the while, we’re just trying to win, and our record’s gotten better every year,” Curry said. “That’s the standard of good coaching to me. I don’t know what else you’d want from him. It’s just kind of unfortunate that that’s the tone that this season has taken when he’s done so much good.
“He’s been able to deal with all this negative talk and criticism … for so long this season because of where his focus is and where his faith’s at, so I think that’s huge.”
Said Jackson: “Like I said before, I’m going to be fine. It’s going to turn out fine.”
