Vincent Hired

Yesterday (5/25) the Charlotte Bobcats hired Sam Vincent to be their second head coach in franchise history. Part owner Michael Jordan also announced that Bernie Bickerstaff, coach and GM since the team’s inception, will take on a new role as Executive Vice President.

While Vincent has only one year of NBA experience, as an assistant in Dallas this past season, that’s not to say he hasn’t paid his dues. Sam has coached clubs in South Africa, Greece and the Netherlands. He also led the Nigerian woman’s squad to Africa’s first ever victory in woman’s Olympic basketball (2004). He then took over Nigeria’s men’s team and led them to the second round of the 2006 FIBA World Championships. He’s also been a head coach in the NBDL on two different occasions.

Guys like Vincent are *such* a better option than the Larry Brown’s, Jeff Van Gundy’s and Mike Fratello’s of the world. More NBA management types should be looking to the ranks of top assistants when they need a change, rather than going the much safer retread-scrap-heap route. Now I can’t pretend to know what kind of coach Sam is, nor am I really sure who made the final call on hiring Vincent, but I applaud both MJ and BB for this decision.