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Wednesday, November 29, 2000
Players rebuke Westphal's offer
Associated Press
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SEATTLE -- Seattle coach Paul Westphal offered to resign
four games into the season, SuperSonics general manager Wally
Walker confirmed Friday night.
|  | | Paul Westphal was surrounded by turmoil this season in Seattle. |
Frustrated by his team's bickering and insubordination, Westphal
offered to quit Nov. 6 after the SuperSonics lost at Orlando, but
his players wouldn't let him.
"He called me the next night," Walker said minutes before the
Sonics faced the Dallas Mavericks in the Key Arena. "I knew about
it."
Westphal told the media of his resignation offer at the end of a
chat session with reporters Thursday.
"I don't even want to talk about it anymore because that's
ancient history now," Westphal said before the Dallas game. "All
I can say is it must have been a slow news day. It's about a week
and a half old."
In the locker room after the Orlando game, Gary Payton, Vin
Baker and Patrick Ewing shouted at their teammates about their poor
effort, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the News Tribune of
Tacoma reported.
Some players questioned Westphal's ability. Westphal, who was in
an office within earshot, came into the locker room and said he
would step down if that was what they wanted, the newspapers said.
But Payton immediately stood and refused.
"I just said we don't need to be talking about this," Payton
said. "We need to be focused on the team, not whether he should be
out or whether he should be here. I wasn't going to have this come
out in the media like we voted out a coach."
Westphal said he was tired of talking about his offer.
"It's not really about me," he said. "It's about the team."
Walker said he wasn't upset at Westphal, his good friend, about
going public with his resignation offer.
"I wasn't expecting it," Walker said. "But it was no big
deal. It was a story."
Walker said the team's 3-6 start had frustrated everybody
connected with the Sonics. With the addition of Ewing, the Sonics
were expected to be one of the top teams in the Western Conference
this season.
"We've got high expectations," Walker said. "We've got to get
better. We're not satisfied to be 3-6. We've got to improve and
build on it. That's where I'd like to leave the subject."
The Sonics beat the New York Knicks, Ewing's former team,
Tuesday night, after returning from a 1-4 road trip. They lost by
35 points in New Jersey on the trip last week.
Westphal said he felt it was his duty to offer to step down.
"If the team's not going to listen, then you get someone
they'll listen to," he said.
He said he went public to show that the team was unified.
Westphal, in his third year as Sonics coach, might feel even
more pressure if the team doesn't improve. Walker didn't extend
Westphal's contract during the off-season.
Walker said Thursday he didn't want to talk about Westphal's
contract. Westphal replaced George Karl following Seattle's
61-victory season in 1998.
In 1993, Westphal coached Phoenix to the NBA Finals. Three years
later, after 33 games that season, he was fired by the Suns.
"Nobody around here is happy that we've lost six games," he
said after practice Thursday. "But there's always pressure in this
business."
Fairly or unfairly, the addition of the 38-year-old Ewing has
meant big expectations for the Sonics. Ewing is Seattle's first
legitimate center since Jack Sikma left after the 1986 season.
In his 16th season, Ewing was averaging 32.9 minutes, 10.6
points and 8.8 rebounds with the Sonics going into the Dallas game.
He averaged 15.0 points and 9.7 rebounds for the Knicks last
season.
Like Westphal, Ewing doesn't have a contract for next season. So
this might be his final year.
Besides Ewing, the Sonics have Payton, an All-Star point guard,
and fellow Olympic gold medalist Baker, as well as
young-and-improving Rashard Lewis and top draft choice Desmond
Mason. Ruben Patterson and Brent Barry are key players, too.
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