Firing Mark Jackson may have cost Warriors shot at keeping Stephen Curry

It’s been often said that the NBA is a player’s league, and that the stars rule the roost. More than once a coach has been ousted because they didn’t see eye to eye with the team’s star player.

So with that in mind, what where you thinking Golden State Warriors front office?

Your star player, Stephen Curry, arguably one of the best players in the NBA today, emphatically stated that he wanted Mark Jackson to return as the Warriors’ head coach.

So, you fired him anyway.

Granted, Curry has three more seasons on his contract. But this is not a rookie deal, and Curry could choose to be a pain in the paint about it.

There’s a lot to be said for the chemistry between a coach and his players – certainly a lot more than there is between the coach and the front office. Whatever ripples there were between Jackson and his superiors could have been ironed out, or at the very least, looked past for the good of the team.

During his three seasons at the helm in Golden State, Jackson compiled a 121-109 record (.526 win percentage) and led the Warriors to the playoffs during the last two seasons.

Jackson took an absolute wreck of a team during a strike-shortened season in 2011 and tried to bring them together, only to have a frenzy of trades and roster moves made the following season. Yet still the Warriors ended up with a six seed in the playoffs that year.

This year the Warriors once again nabbed a six seed in what was a stacked Western Conference, and took on a Los Angeles Clippers filled with more stars and force the series to go to seven games.

So now the Warriors will start over again with a new coach, who may or may not get the same support from his team that Jackson was getting.

And Stephen Curry?

Never underestimate the ego of an NBA player, especially when it’s clear that the team has essentially ignored his wishes. By firing Jackson the Warriors’ management has essentially alienated themselves from Curry, and will have a tough sell-job of re-signing him to a new deal or to even keep him from demanding a trade (which has happened…right Dwight Howard?)

Not the most prudent of front office moves.