Hamilton Signs With Washington Wizards
June 14, 2000
By JOSEPH WHITE
AP Sports Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) – Michael Jordan wanted a college coach for his WashingtonWizards, a team short on discipline and fundamentals. He also had to findsomeone who does not mind starting at the bottom.
Leonard Hamilton fit the bill.
Though he was not Jordan’s first choice, the University of Miami coachsigned a five-year, $10 million contract with the Wizards on Wednesday andaccepted with relish his new lofty assignment.
“I’m not sure I wouldn’t be more excited about this challenge than I wouldtaking over a team that just won the NBA championship,” said the 51-year-oldcoach, who has rebuilt programs at Oklahoma State and Miami over the last 14years. “This separates different kinds of personalities. I just get excitedabout taking those things over that appear to be difficult.”
Difficult is the optimal word.
Hamilton is the Wizards’ fifth coach in three seasons. The team hasn’t won aplayoff game in 12 years, with the only postseason appearance since 1988 comingin a three-game, first-round sweep by Chicago in 1997.
The Wizards are in need of a roster overhaul, but the huge salaries ofunderachieving veterans Juwan Howard, Rod Strickland and Mitch Richmond make itnearly impossible for Jordan to move players under the league’s salary capguidelines. Furthermore, the Wizards do not have a first-round draft pick thisyear.
Also, Hamilton must buck a recent trend of successful college coaches, suchas Rick Pitino, P.J. Carlesimo, John Calipari and Jerry Tarkanian, who havestruggled in the NBA.
“Sure, it hasn’t really been proven properly that a college coach can makethe transition from college to the pros,” said Jordan, the Wizards presidentof basketball operations. “That doesn’t mean he can’t be the first. The ideathat we have is to try to surround him with knowledge about the game and lethim utilize that knowledge. We will have to support Leonard as much as possibleand help him understand the professional game.”
Jordan fired Gar Heard shortly after joining the Wizards front office Jan.19, but the hiring of Hamilton is His Airness’ biggest management decision todate.
The search was long and not always smooth. Lenny Wilkens, the NBA’s careerleader victories, said he had been offered the job when he hadn’t, and St.John’s coach Mike Jarvis turned down Jordan in a disagreement over money.
“It doesn’t always work out the way you envision, so you’ve always got toprepare for that. That’s a big lesson for me to learn,” Jordan said. “Sure hewas not the first choice that I had, but I wasn’t the first pick in the drafteither.”
Jordan said he didn’t want a recycled coach from another NBA team. He said acollege coach would symbolize a new beginning and help repair the lack offundamentals that “a lot of players on this team need.”
“They need that type of attention, to the little things that have beenskipped in their education of basketball,” Jordan said. “Let’s start with thebasics.”
Those were much the same thoughts uttered a year ago, when disciplinarianHeard was hired by general manager Wes Unseld. Heard’s back-to-basics approachnever clicked, and he lost the players’ respect within weeks.
The negotiations between Jordan and Hamilton took 3 1/2 weeks. Hamiltoncouldn’t take the job until he found a way to get out of his new seven-year,$5.5 million contract extension with Miami. Hamilton agreed Saturday to buy outthe contract for $1 million.
Hamilton also wrestled with leaving the school where he had coached for 10years. It took five seasons before he got the Hurricanes winning again, and nowthey have been to the last three NCAA tournaments.
“I’ve always been close to my players,” Hamilton said. “It was difficultto make that decision to leave at this point where it appears were are veryclose to being very, very special.”
