FILE – Washington Wizards head coach Wes Unseld Jr. yells to his team in the course of the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Portland Trail Blazers in Portland, Ore., Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023. Unseld Jr. is out as coach of the Washington Wizards. (AP Photo/Steve Dykes, File)
WASHINGTON — Amid a rebuild without much of a foundation, the Washington Wizards front office felt the players needed to listen to from a brand new voice.
Wes Unseld Jr. was ousted Thursday because the Wizards’ coach midway through his third season with the team, which has the second-fewest wins within the NBA. Assistant Brian Keefe was named interim coach.
Unseld will remain with the team in a front-office advisory role. He was solid aside with the Wizards having lost five straight and 11 of 12; those runs of futility continued Thursday night when Washington fell 123-108 to the Utah Jazz.
Wizards president Michael Winger, who’s overseeing the team’s rebuild, said he decided to make the change after several meetings including him, Unseld, and general manager Will Dawkins.
“We’d talk concerning the team. We’d talk concerning the competitiveness of the team, player accountability, joy — our principles,” Winger said. “It kind of became clearer that there was just this sustained something lower than our competitive selves and you simply kept feeling it and seeing it, and Wes did, too. He saw it. He knew it. He felt it. And he gave it every thing he had.
“The team he inherited from us this season is significantly different from the teams he had the last couple of years. The job he took two years ago was different than when he had this yr.”
Washington’s top two players — Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porzingis — were traded within the offseason, with the Wizards receiving little in return. Nonetheless, Winger felt the players on the roster weren’t competitive enough.
“These are conversations we’ve got with them,” Winger said. “We met with them today, there’s not a single player in that locker room that’s glad with this consequence. Each one in all them raised their hand once we asked the query, ‘Who on this room is chargeable for this?’ Each player raised their hand. They understand it.”
The Wizards said they may seek for a full-time alternative within the offseason.
For now, players are focused on attempting to turn the season around.
“Numerous individuals are focused on something that’s very micro, which is the coaching, but I feel as an entire straight away we’re it as an organizational mindset shift and that’s defense and accountability,” forward Kyle Kuzma said. “Those are the primary two constructing blocks which can be going to be an emphasis in something we form of lacked over the past 40-something games, in order that is something that you just’re going to expect.
“And we talked about competitiveness and energy. The primary teacher of that’s the bench. So … when you’re not playing to your teammates, when you’re not giving your all, then you definately can come down on the bench and I feel that’s going to resonate with everybody.”
Unseld, 48, is the son of the late Hall of Famer Wes Unseld, who helped the then-Bullets win the 1978 NBA title and later coached the team. The Wizards went 77-130 under the younger Unseld.
“I’m grateful to have served as head coach of the Washington Wizards,” Unseld said in an announcement released by the team. “I sit up for this latest opportunity to work toward our organization’s continued progress.”
Unseld is a longtime NBA assistant, spending six seasons with the Wizards from 2005-11, one with Golden State, three with Orlando, and 6 with Denver before returning to Washington in 2021.
“It was just time for a brand new voice and we’re going to maneuver with BK and hearken to him and follow his lead,” guard Tyus Jones said. “We’re 40 games in and we weren’t making the strides the front office wanted us to be making and we’re going to proceed to try to enhance and take a look at to accomplish that.”
Winger was hired last May and tabbed Dawkins as GM shortly after.
“There are things stylistically that we wish to see on the court. Specifically, we all know our energy was not at all times there. We all know our competitiveness was not at all times there and defensively some nights were unacceptable,” Dawkins said. “And people are things that we wish to proceed to work on. And we expect that a fresh voice right here straight away is what we want, and in addition for the betterment of the long run.”
Keefe joined Washington in July after spending the past two seasons as an assistant with Brooklyn. He has also been on the staff with Oklahoma City and the Recent York Knicks. He began his profession as a video coordinator with the San Antonio Spurs, who won a championship in 2007.
“Very lucky to begin where I began,” Keefe said. “I began in San Antonio a protracted time ago and I got to see the perfect on the planet do it. Gregg Popovich, Tim (Duncan), Tony (Parker), Manu (Ginobili). Numerous guys who were ultra-professional guys.”
Winger said Unseld will remain an asset to the front office because the Wizards try to realize their long-term goals. Dawkins looks forward to having the basketball lifer around.
“If you end up on the forefront of what we’re attempting to do and also you construct those first bricks and you set those down and eventually years down the road you see what they turn out to be, you’re taking pride in that,” Dawkins said. “And we’ve got loads of pride knowing that he’s still going to be working with us within the front office, identifying those things and helping us get to where we wish to go.”
