There was one person, however, who had a crystal clear memory of what happened that night: then-Bucks coach Terry Stotts. “I’ll be honest, I remember that game distinctly — and not because LeBron didn’t score 10,” Stotts told ESPN. The final play of that Cleveland victory — a dunk by Michael Redd with 14.8 seconds to go — would turn out to be the beginning of the end of Stotts’ tenure in Milwaukee. “Michael had a dunk in the last seconds of the game,” Stotts said. “A meaningless dunk. We were down nine. “[But] he goes up to dunk the ball, and he did something to his knee and missed the next 20 games. … We went 3-17.”
Terry Stotts Rumors
Coaching sources say that the Celts are likewise interested in two of the top available former head coaches — Frank Vogel and Terry Stotts — but pessimistic about their chances of luring either to usher the unproven Mazzulla through this massive step up onto the big stage.
Gary Payton, whose own Hall of Fame career got going in earnest in Seattle under Karl’s tutelage, said on Martin’s podcast that he loved Karl — and that he also “used to want to kill George’s ass every other (bleeping) day.” “Early in his career, and honestly, it’s one of the things that made him a great coach, is that he wasn’t afraid of confrontation,” said Terry Stotts, the former Blazers, Hawks and Bucks head coach who was an assistant coach for Karl in Seattle and Milwaukee. “I think his style of confrontation changed over the years. Early on, it was more face to face. I don’t think he ever changed. He wasn’t afraid to rub people the wrong way, and not just players, because he had opinions on how the game should be played, and what he wanted, and how he viewed the game. For good or for bad, that was part of his coaching style.”
Kenny Atkinson turns down head coaching job in Charlotte
Adrian Wojnarowski: ESPN Sources: Kenny Atkinson has decided he won’t become the Charlotte Hornets’ head coach and will remain with Golden State as top assistant. After being offered job during the NBA Finals, further conversations led Atkinson to believe it would be best to remain with Warriors.
Adrian Wojnarowski: Mike D’Antoni and Terry Stotts were the other two finalists for the job, sources said. Charlotte will have to restart process now.
If Utah ends up interviewing more than 20 candidates for its coaching vacancy, no one in the coaching community will be surprised. Jazz CEO Danny Ainge loves intel and will surely amass plenty by the time Utah names its successor to Quin Snyder. Utah’s only known candidates with NBA head coaching experience on a list already in the teens are Terry Stotts and Frank Vogel.
Jazz receive permission to interview several assistant coaches
Adrian Wojnarowski: ESPN Sources: The Jazz received permission to interview several assistant coaches for head job, including Johnnie Bryant (Knicks), Will Hardy (Celtics), Charles Lee (Bucks), and Joe Mazzulla (Celtics). Jazz assistant Alex Jensen and Terry Stotts will interview too.
