Flip Saunders was fired Tuesday as coach of the NBA-worst Washington Wizards and replaced by assistant Randy Wittman, who has the job for the rest of the season.
The Wizards fell to 2-15 this season, including 0-7 on the road, with a 20-point loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday. Washington’s next game is at home Wednesday against the Charlotte Bobcats.
“We felt the team had become unresponsive, and we will look to Randy to provide a different voice and a change in philosophy moving forward,” Wizards president Ernie Grunfeld said in a statement released by the team. “We have been transparent in how we would evaluate our team this season and we were disappointed in the lack of development of our players at this point in our rebuilding plan.”
Hands up all those who are surprised by this turn of events...liars.
It was bound to happen sooner rather than later but despite what JaVale McGee's mother would have you believe, the Wizards' lousy season isn't all on Flip Saunders. He's no Phil Jackson by any means but he's had some respectable years coaching teams with rosters that actually stood a chance of enjoying some level of success. He hasn't had a lot to work with in Washington.
Still, the blade has to fall on someone and as the old saying goes, you can't fire the players but you can fire the coach. I doubt Randy Wittman does any better with that roster but perhaps it'll prove to be step one in a slightly better rebuilding effort. Getting someone else into the front office would be step two.
