Toronto Raptors can Coach Dwane Casey
5/19/2018, 2:09 p.m.
Dwane Casey is NBA Coach of the Year. He’s also out of work.
After guiding the Toronto Raptors to an NBA best 59-23 record, the 61-year-old was abruptly fired after his team was swept in the playoffs by Cleveland, led by LeBron James.
Clearly, the Toronto brass was upset with a second-straight playoff elimination to the Cavs.
The Raptors were 320-238 in seven regular seasons under Coach Casey, with five straight playoff berths, but 21-30 in the postseason.
A Kentucky native, Coach Casey was captain of the University of Kentucky’s 1978 NCAA championship team.
Prior to coaching at Toronto, Coach Casey was an assistant at NBA teams in Minnesota, Seattle and Dallas.
There are now NBA coaching vacancies in Atlanta, Detroit and Orlando, along with Toronto.
NBA black coach fraternity
Here are the current African-American head coaches in the 32-team NBA:
• Tyronn Lue, Cleveland
• Nate McMillan, Indiana
• Doc Rivers, Los Angeles Clippers
• J.B. Bickerstaff, Memphis*
• Alvin Gentry, New Orleans
• David Fizdale, New York Knicks*
- Hired after the 2018 regular season
Note: Bill Russell became the first black NBA coach in 1966, succeeding Red Auerbach in Boston. Russell was a player-coach at the time.
