The disparity between the prevalence of white coaches versus white players in basketball

I read a column in the AJC today. It discusses who UK should look for in a coach. Living in Atlanta, race comes up a lot in the responses and some of the comments set me off. One person claimed that since UK is going after Calipari, they are racist. They stated that they should consider minority coaches because most players are minorites. Here is my comment to the article:

I have a theory about the disparity between the prevalence of white coaches versus white players in basketball.

First of all, a good player does not translate into a good coach. In fact, most good coaches were not star players. Phil Jackson was not even a regular NBA starter for his first 6 seasons in the league. Coach K played for West Point. Tubby Smith went to High Point. Pat Riley averaged 7 points in his NBA career. Doc Rivers was an NBA starter for much of his career, but was a supporting player. The list goes on… Dean Smith, Bob Knight, John Chaney, Larry Brown.

How many All-Star players have succeeded as coaches? I can think of one – Larry Bird, and he only coached for a few seasons. But some notable failures are Isaiah Thomas, Magic Johnson, Kevin McHale, Danny Ainge, and Clyde Drexler. The only exception might be Lenny Wilkens (who holds the distinction for most NBA wins AND losses as a coach).

Now, you don’t have to be a bad player or benchwarmer to be a good coach, that’s not my point. It just seems to work out that way. Former players like Jeff Capel may break the mold (and maybe I’m missing a few?).

Look at good players and their mindset. Natural ability plays a large role in why players are as good as they are. Do you think LeBron James was coached to be a good player? No. He is just good. There’s no explaining it. Gifted athletes that become coaches can have a hard time relating to players that aren’t as good as they were as players. You can’t coach someone to be as good as you when you are at that level. You either are, or you aren’t. However, as a coach, you have to know how to reach these ‘lesser’ players, draw out the talent, and make players work together.

Now, look at players on the bench. They get a unique perspective that players on the court don't get - you can see the entire court and all its pieces as a whole. Players on the bench have to make up for their lack of talent with hard work and strategy, just to get where they are. If I can’t jump higher, run faster and shoot better, I have to make up for it in other ways – movement off the ball, hustle defense, etc., - which are all helpful things that can be used as a coach. Players on the bench get to listen to coaches and assistants strategize, draw up plays, and motivate players. These are things players on the floor do not see from an outside perspective.

All the years good players spend playing basketball, benchwarmers spend learning about the game. And who do you see at the end of most benches in college and the NBA? White players. This is not racist, it’s circumstance.


As far as UK goes, I was born and raised there, and am an alum. I was happy to have Tubby as a coach, and didn’t know ANYONE that thought worse of him because of his race. Yes, he won a national championship in 1998, but with Pitino’s team. I could have coached that team. After that, there were some good years, but not good years as measured by us. He lacked the recruiting power. Having a black coach does not give you “instant credibility” as said by Cat Shabazz’s #3 point... it did nothing at all. Tubby was not given the chance to coach because of his race, and he wasn’t fired because of it.

Gillispie was not a good fit, and I think we will be better off with Calipari. He seems to have the ego to want such a high profile job, the coaching ability and the recruiting expertise. I feel like our team has potential to be a contender for the first time in a while. GO CATS!