Pacers coach McMillan, sinibak; Spoelstra, nagalit

Matapos ang dalawang sunod na pagkatalo sa first round playoffs sa NBA conference, sinibak na ng Indiana Pacers ang kanilang pambatong coach na si Nate McMillan.

Kinumpirma ang pagkakasibak kay McMillan ni President of basketball operations ng Pacers na si Kevin Pritchard.
“This was a very hard decision for us to make; but we feel it’s in the best interest of the organization to move in a different direction,” ani Pritchard. “Nate and I have been through the good times and the bad times and it was an honor to work with him for those 11 years.”

Nakagugulat umano ang naging desisyon ng Pacers dahil noong August 12 ay inanunsyo ni Pritchard na binigyan nila si McMillan ng isang taong extension ng kanyang kontrata bilang mentor ng koponan.

Bago bigyan ng contract extension, pinuri ni Pritchard si McMillan dahil sa abilidad nitong dalhin sa playoffs ang koponan sa kabila ng maraming manlalaro ang nasa listahan ng may injury gaya ni Victor Oladipo at All-Star forward Paul George.

Ikinagalit naman ni Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra ang ginawang pagsibak kay McMillan.

“It seems totally ridiculous,” ani Spoelstra. “It seems like you’re talking out of both sides of your mouth. Just two weeks ago at the beginning of our series, you’re giving him an extension – but really it’s just a media fake extension to appease whatever they felt like they needed to appease.