Ex-Warriors Assistant Brian Scalabrine Felt Mark Jackson Didn’t Push Players Enough

Last season, the Golden State Warriors were embroiled in a bit of turmoil behind the scenes. Head coach Mark Jackson and execs for the team reportedly weren’t on the same page, which ultimately led to Jackson’s dismissal despite making the playoffs again.

There were also issues between Jackson and his coaching staff. Former NBA player Brian Scalabrine was one of the assistants that had issues with Jackson. Scalabrine was demoted midseason, Jackson attributed it to a “difference in philosophies”

Scalabrine confirmed that and elaborated on the differences in a recent interview with 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Toucher & Rich.” Scalabrine felt Jackson was being too soft on the players.

“Mark gave me a great opportunity to be on the bench, and then when I got there, I think to win in this league you have to drive and push, and I feel like the players will respond to that,” Scalabrine said via BANG’s Diamond Leung. “And I think that was the biggest thing about this disappointment in our staff as a staff, right? We could have done more, and we didn’t, and I think he kind of sensed that.

“At the end of the day, to say it was a difference of philosophy, a difference of opinion, I mean, that’s really what it was. And I’m so used to seeing like a Doc Rivers and a Tom Thibodeau (his former coaches), and it kind of threw me for like kind of a loop and a surprise that it was not as hard-pressing as I thought it was going to be.”

There are all types of different coaching scenarios. Methods used by one coach may not work with a team, or an athlete’s personality. The players all rallied around Jackson. It’s hard to say that if Jackson went harder on them as a coach, they would’ve advanced past the Clippers in the playoffs.