SI.com · Dec 8, 2017
The Bittersweet Life of an Interim Head Coach
There are few transitions as bittersweet as becoming an interim NBA head coach. On one side, your friend and mentor has been fired. On the other, the chance of a lifetime. JB Bickerstaff is the latest to go through the whirlwind transition.
J.B. Bickerstaff milled around his backyard, cleaning up the toys and sticks his children had scattered around the lawn, when Ed Stefanski called. As Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace simultaneously relieved David Fizdale of his head coaching duties, Stefanski’s message to Bickerstaff felt far more like déjà vu than opportunity: Would you be interested in becoming the Grizzlies’ interim head coach?