Brooklyn Nets coach Jason Kidd blamed "different philosophies" for his decision to reassign assistant coach Lawrence Frank to a paper-filing role. Another factor, however, may have been Kidd's concern about his voice being drowned out by the vocal assistant.
Kidd cited a difference in philosophies on defense as his reason for reassigning Frank, although Frank apparently hadn't changed his defensive philosophy from what they originally agreed upon when he was hired.
"Kidd had come to differ with Frank's beliefs on how the Nets should defend, league sources said, but those had been strategies that the coaching staff had hammered out together throughout the summer and training camp," Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports wrote on Tuesday.
Another issue appeared to be the first-year coach's concern about Frank having too strong of a voice on the team.
"...Frank had the most head-coaching experience on the staff, and often his voice was the loudest at practices," ESPN's Marc Stein and Ohm Youngmisuk wrote on Wednesday. "Two sources say Nets players felt Frank was over-coaching earlier in the season."
Wojnarowski echoed ESPN's report of Kidd wanting to be the undisputed leader.
"Kidd had hired Frank to have a strong hand in the day-to-day coaching, game planning and practice preparation of the team, but quickly changed course in his desire for Frank to be such a force within the staff, league sources said," Wojnarowski wrote.
Kidd seemingly changed his mind about Frank's role on the team after losing to the Orlando Magic, which was Kidd's first game as head coach; he reportedly lost his temper with Frank hours after the loss.
"With Jason, once he turns on you, he turns," one NBA source told Yahoo! Sports. "That's how he was as a player, and that's what we're seeing again now."
