Egos Lead to Firing of Sonics Coach Westphal

You may remember the commotion that arose earlier in the fall around the Patrick Ewing trade. The Review even ran a story on it. Fourteen players changed homes between four different teams. And who came out on top? There was talk about Seattle becoming one of the top teams in the Western Conference. Well, they are 7-9. Not too bad, right? Then again, this is professional sports, not Oberlin sports.

The management took action on Monday, firing Head Coach Paul Westphal. Team President and General Manager Wally Walker gave him the axe.

The Sonics have Ewing, Gary Payton and Vin Baker, three well paid players that should be dominating.

"If you look at the team on paper, we should be one of the elite teams in the league," Ewing said in an interview on espn.com. That's probably true. So why does the team have a losing record and why was Westphal fired?

The problem seems to be a trend that runs through major sports lately. Nobody is playing for the love of the game. It's all about the Benjamins.

If you don't believe me, ask my cohort, sophomore Sports Editor Zach Pretzer. Last week he told of the greed in golf (golf of all things!) and if you look up to the top of the page you will see how money is ruining baseball.

I think the reason professional sports have to have big arenas is to house player egos, not fans. I guess they need a bigger stadium in Seattle.

Let me get to the heart of the matter. My finger is pointed at Payton. Sure, he is the superstar that scores all the points, but that is exactly the problem. Payton has been given too much free rein. He doesn't believe he is part of a team anymore. He is playing for himself, not the Sonics.

He has tried to improve his national image over the past couple of years by going on TV and being his version of charming. But Payton is not a good guy. During a game last season, he shouted at Nuggets Coach Dan Issel, "[Bleep] you, bitch." I think the problem is obvious. Payton has no respect, which is kind of funny. Funny, because of what he said to espn.com: "If he's going to disrespect me, I'm not going to play for him, period. He says something bad to me, that I think is bad, and he will not disrespect me like that." This is what Payton said after the fourth-quarter blow up at Westphal in Dallas last Friday that directly contributed to Westphal's termination.

Everyone assumed that Payton has led the Sonics to their victories, and he does lead them on the floor at least. Notice how the arrival of Westphal has resulted in very little success. The Sonics have barely eked out a winning record since his addition (76-71) and the one time they made it to the post season, they were promptly defeated by Utah.

What I am trying to say is that former coach George Karl probably had to more to do with the Sonics' success than Payton did. Too bad the Sonics' management didn't realize that. They gave Payton control of the offense. I guess that power corrupted him.

Now Payton doesn't even have the patience to be a team player. According to espn.com, he reportedly told Westphal in the huddle during the Mavericks' game that he didn't care "about this game anymore. You all can suspend me for the rest of my career." Sounds a little bit like my 11-year-old brother. Way to be a team player, Gary.

Westphal did indeed suspend Payton the following day for at least one game, citing "conduct detrimental to the team." However, hours later the suspension was lifted because Payton apologized.

This is the kind of slap-on-the-wrist discipline that perpetuates actions like Payton's or Allen Iverson's (who is actually coming around to reality). What incentive does Payton have to respect authority? He threatens to quit and he is suspended for mere hours. He argues with his coach in the middle of the game and his coach gets fired.

Coaches are so accustomed to pampering the superstars that they do it almost by second nature. Issel's reaction to being called a bitch was a shrug. I guess Payton can call anybody he wants a bitch.

Westphal didn't have problems with Payton alone. He has reportedly called Baker out of shape and overweight. Over the summer he was attempting to trade him.

Indeed, Westphal had lots of problems with the team. Only four days into the season he approached the team and offered to resign. He was apparently concerned with bickering and insubordination on the team.

So why didn't the team ask him to resign? Payton was upfront about the reason with espn.com. He didn't want the media to get the idea that he had led a coup d'etat, the report that helped to destroy whatever Penny Hardaway's public image had going for it a couple of years ago.

So what does this mean for the Sonics? Nate McMillan, an assistant under Westphal and well-liked by the players, was made interim head coach. McMillan, a former Seattle guard, coached his first game Tuesday night at Portland. It was a win, but let's not draw any hasty conclusions.

However, McMillan should fare better than Westphal. He is big on defense, which was not Westphal's strong point. The Sonics could use more than a couple lessons in defense. As far as strategy goes, McMillan is just what the doctor ordered, but will he be able to handle the egos? He will have a hell of a task getting his star player in line, not to mention Baker and Ewing. The reputation of both these players is well above their current performance records.

Ewing was supposed to be the savior for the Sonics. He is their first legitimate center since Jack Sikma left after the 1986 season. In his 16th season, Ewing is averaging 31.3 minutes, 10.3 points and 8.9 rebounds. He averaged 15.0 points and 9.7 rebounds for the Knicks last season. He has been spending too much time facing the basket and putting up jump shots. He is not especially good at this, but that doesn't stop him. He is probably still (possible eternally) offended by everyone's lack of respect, even though he was voted one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history.

Besides the threesome of Ewing, Payton and Baker, the Sonics have young-and-improving Rashard Lewis, top draft choice Desmond Mason, Ruben Patterson and Brent Barry.

So McMillan can try to shape up his stars or try to integrate his bench a little more. Either way, he has a long road ahead of him, not to mention probably only a little bit of initiative, considering he is only interim for the time being.

The whole situation is way too messy. Yet none of the mess came from people playing basketball. It came from egos. Sports professionals are too often motivated by money or career options, whether it's players like Payton crying to get off his suspension and keep his paycheck coming or coaches like Westphal who praised Payton's playing even after he was fired. But I guess it is too much for me to ask to ask that professional athletes go out and PLAY.