It seems likely that Mark Jackson is done as head coach of the Golden State Warriors after the Dubs fell to the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 7 on Saturday night. However, Stephen Curry and Warriors players have Jackson's back, and they want him to stay.
Curry was asked about the state of the Warriors following the game. While he didn't call this season a complete success, he believes Jackson deserves to stay as coach after leading the team to a 51-win season.
"I love Coach more than anybody, and I think for him to be in a situation where his job is under scrutiny and under question is totally unfair," Curry said. "And it would definitely be a shock to me if anything like that were to happen.
"I'm going to voice my support for Coach, if you've got anybody that asks me about it all summer."
It will be an interesting offseason for the Warriors on the decision they make with Jackson, who will enter the final year of his contract. Back in February, co-owner Joe Lacob said Jackson was doing a "good job" with the team.
"But some things are a little disturbing -- the lack of being up for some of these games at home, that's a concern to me," Lacob then added.
This has been one of the best seasons Golden State has had in decades. Jackson has answered multiple questions throughout the season regarding his job status. Curry deems the questions unfair to Jackson.
"What Coach has gone through this year has been unlike anything I've seen -- just the amount of distractions and the circus that's been around him and decisions he's had to make," Curry said ."We came into the season thinking that this was a long-term situation, but obviously he's been having to answer these questions all year."
Many of the players remain close with Jackson and hope that he stays.
"I love him," Klay Thompson said. "I love playing for Coach Jackson. I hope he's back. He makes it so fun to go to work every day. I got so much better under his tutelage in three years where I don't know where I'd be if I didn't have him the last three years.
"We went from 47 wins to 51 wins. Hopefully, we go to 55, 60 next year and just keep getting better. I think we've got the group to do it."
The Warriors did lose in the first round, but they did well against a No. 3 seeded Clippers team. They were able to force seven games even without top defensive center Andrew Bogut. The Warriors players fought very hard in this series, and they say did it for Jackson and his job status.
"That's definitely what Coach has built of some guys who are going to battle, guys who are going to give max effort," forward Draymond Green said. "That's what he preaches every single day. And you fall line, everybody. You just fall in line. If you have a great leader, you fall in line."
Jackson says he will be fine if he is fired. He had a good gig with ESPN being a commentator. In fact, he could probably land another coaching gig with several vacancies currently open. Of course, the Warriors players don't want it to be that way.
"His presence affects the whole entire team just from a respect level, from a spiritual level, making every guy a better man," Andre Iguodala said. "And those are the things you'll remember looking back on your career not only how you grew as a basketball player, but how you grew as a man. It's a very rare trait in a basketball coach."
The Golden State front office has a very tough issue to deal with this offseason.
