The Golden State Warriors have demoted assistant coach Brian Scalabrine to their D-League affiliate in Santa Cruz, Calif., with 11 games to play in the regular season for what coach Mark Jackson called a "difference in philosophies."
Jackson's Warriors sit in sixth place at 44-27, only 1½ games ahead of the eighth and last spot for the playoffs despite winning 15 of 23 games since the beginning of February.
He said Scalabrine's reassignment to the Santa Cruz Warriors was his call.
"I made the decision," Jackson said Tuesday after practice, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. "I'm fortunate enough to have an ownership group and a management group that allows me to pick my staff. We're just going in a different direction. That's that."
The move came after a 99-90 loss at home Saturday night to the San Antonio Spurs, who stand atop the West with the NBA's best record at 54-16, a status Jackson acknowledged after the game.
"We made some mistakes. It's a disappointing loss. It'll make us better," Jackson said Saturday. "Hopefully we see them down the road again, but there's a reason why they're the best team in basketball."
Those comments by Jackson followed a meeting with his assistants right after the game that lasted more than 30 minutes, according to the Chronicle's report.
By Tuesday, Jackson was ready to part with Scalabrine, a former veteran power forward whose career spanned 11 seasons and included an NBA championship in 2008 with the Boston Celtics, with whom Warriors owner Joe Lacob was a minority owner. In addition, Warriors general manager Bob Myers was Scalabrine's agent for 10 of his seasons as a player.
"I made a decision and wish him nothing but the very best," Jackson said, according to the Chronicle. "This is my decision and we move forward. One thing I will say is that we're a tied-together team, excited about finishing up the season the right way."
