Though the season is put two weeks old, it’s getting late early for several head coaches in the current NBA ranks.
To paraphrase the late, great Yogi Berra … It’s getting late early out there.
Berra obviously wasn’t referring to the early stages of the 2025-26 NBA season, but that quote no doubt rings true for some of the leadership ranks. The Association is two weeks into its latest season, a relative grain of sand compared to the beach that is the full 82-game campaign.
Certain head coaches, however, have no doubt felt their chairs get a little uncomfortable as stress beyond the holiday season begins to surface. After this weekend, each of the NBA’s 30 teams will have played at least eight games, competing just about 10 percent of their respective schedules. While it feels maybe a little early to start talking about vacancies, last year’s coaching circuit provided plenty of surprises in the form of several high-profile oustings at the tail-end of the regular season.
The league already saw one shocking exit from the head coaching ranks, as Chauncey Billups was removed from his Portland post for his alleged involvement in illegal gambling schemes currently under federal investigation. But who might be the next to go, this ousting done for purely the basketball reasons? BIL nominates a cursed (number) below …
Jordi Fernandez, Brooklyn Nets
There aren’t too many surprises in the current NBA basement, and yet there are relative sighs of relief among some of their leaders: Utah’s Will Hardy just inked an extension while Washington appears willing to play the long game with Brian Keefe, having stockpiled enough assets to at least somewhat overlook an ugly record. Additionally, it’s really hard to respectively blame Rick Carlisle and Jason Kidd for what’s respectively going on in Indiana (a plethora of injuries headlined by Indianapolis icon Tyrese Haliburton) and Dallas (fallout from the increasingly bizarre Luka Doncic trade continues).
But yet, Fernandez’s case in Brooklyn (1-8) doesn’t appear too ironclad, even if he’s only working through his second season: even the most delusional die-hard of Nets basketball had a hard time envisioning them in the playoffs, but there’s little, if any progress to speak of. Particularly damning is the stifled outings of the Nets’ five-man rookie class, as they’re struggling to make headway with the yields of marquee trades, such as that of Mikal Bridges.
While it’s fair to take such a development with a gran of salt considering they’re different entities with different goals an expectations, it should be noted that this is a metropolitan management group that parted ways with its WNBA leader Sandy Brondello less than a calendar year after winning a championship. Fernandez obviously doesn’t have a similar assignment but he’s working in a place that demands results.
Willie Green, New Orleans Pelicans
No one is the bayou is more thankful for the ongoing crisis surrounding LSU football than Green, who somehow managed to outlast Brian Kelly in the battle for Cajun longevity. That’s one of the few wins that Green has secured under his belt this season, as the Pelicans (2-6) lost their first six games before earning wins over equally woebegone Charlotte and Dallas this week. Brought in to oversee what was hoped to be the meat of the Zion Williamson era, Green has quietly built a somewhat-lengthy tenured with the Pels, appearing in two playoff rounds over four-plus tours.
Beyond the offensive rebounding prowess of fleeting franchise face Williamson, there’s really no metric to show any sing of Big Easy progress. New Orleans already endured a major offseason change by ejecting lead decisionmaker David Griffin, one of the architects of LeBron James’ championship squad in Cleveland, from the front office. New boss Joe Dumars may not be so forgiving as they seek any and all forms to placate Williamson, a task rendered even more difficult by the fact that the Pels don’t even have the comfort of their own, presumably-high first-round pick to work with, having traded to Atlanta for Derik Queen on the most recent draft night.
Tuomas Iisalo, Memphis Grizzlies
Iisalo earned one of the most surprising promotions in recent NBA memory when he took over for the ousted Taylor Jenkins late last season. Memphis management seems to appreciate Iisalo’s potential: the Grizzlies quickly made the Helsinki-born Iisalo the top assistant on Jenkins’ final staff with nary a minute on an NBA sideline to his name and quickly re-upped with him after their swift elimination at the hands of the eventual champion Oklahoma City Thunder.
But it’s hard to name any kind of signature win in the (admittedly brief) Iisalo era and the Grizzlies have stumbled out of the gate to the tune of a 4-6 mark punctuated by reported dissatisfaction from Ja Morant. At this point, it feels like Iisalo and Morant are engaged in a game of Memphis chicken, with the winner set to guide the Grizzlies in an uncertain future. It feels like Iisalo has the lead, as it’d be much easier to cast off Morant (similar to how Miami was able to let go of Jimmy Butler last year) but one can never be too sure.
Tyronn Lue, LA Clippers
Lue was a popular picks for these brands of lists during the preseason, and he had some common company, such as Chicago’s Billy Donovan, Milwaukee’s Doc Rivers, and Nick Nurse of Philadelphia.
But whereas those names overcame the early pressure to post sterling strong results on the early postseason bracket, Lue and the Clippers (3-5) have sputtered in the early going, struggling to deter attention away from the infamous Kawhi Leonard situation. One can argue that LA wasn’t exactly expected to linger in the Western penthouse, but a team that still carries Leonard, James Harden, and even the traditionally-powered center Ivica Zubac shouldn’t be struggling this much.
It’s not entirely Lue’s fault (Phoenix Suns fans likely hardly sympathize with the Clippers’ dealing with modern Bradley Beal) but if the team wants to win with the current core, a new voice may be sought after … especially if the voice happens to be that of Jeff Van Gundy, currently serving as an LA assistant.
Jamahl Mosley, Orlando Magic
Mosley’s Magic came in with some heightened expectations, ones not often seen on a preseason basis in Central Florida. After Mosley weathered last year’s medical storm well enough for the Magic to place seventh in the East, management took a big swing in the name of capitalizing on a changing conference: it sent most of its future to Memphis to acquire the services of Desmond Bane while granting franchise face Paolo Banchero a hefty contract extension.
But the Magic (4-5) has struggled out of the gate and is already struggling to keep pace with the contenders it envision being among. Not all of that is Mosley’s fault (Bane has been particularly disappointing in the early going and fellow newcomer Tyus Jones has also been ineffective) but the defensive identity he helped cultivate over the past few seasons has vanished through several embarrassing losses, such as last week’s nationally-televised dud against Atlanta. Mosley has done reasonably well with the weaponry afforded to him (guiding Orlando to its first set of consecutive playoff appearances since 2019-20) but many felt the Magic would be further along at this point.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags
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