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The economic realities are such that a lot of NBA superstars are more important, in almost every way, than their coaches. There are ten million examples of that. Some little ones from the last few days: Allen Iverson has basically said he wanted to make some coaching decisions in Philadelphia. Sekou Smith reminded us today that the Net players effectively pulled the plug on Byron Scott. (On that note, I have seen Lawrence Frank go to incredible conversational lengths to make a good impression on Jason Kidd's family.)



But there are some coaches who just don't play that game. They have it in them to lead, and they do lead. I have the feeling that Jerry Sloan, Gregg Popovich, Phil Jackson, Avery Johnson and the like could probably lead pretty effectively in business, in war, in just about anything.



And if you think about it, what's the downside? If the stars tune you out, you're toast either way right? But what makes them more likely to tune you out--your doing your job to the best of your ability and demanding respect, or you being a suck-up? How long can the suck-up approach last? Isn't it, in the long run, super annoying to be in a leadership vacuum situation, with a suck-up in place of a general? Situations like that are destined to fall apart.



You have to like the way the Dallas Mavericks talk about Avery Johnson. Here's the Mike Wells article that prompted this post:

"He's gotten on starters that average 25 points a game as much as the 15th guy that wants to be on the active list," Croshere said. "He calls it how he sees it and he doesn't sugarcoat anything."



One of the complaints among players at the end of last season was that Carlisle let the veterans get away with more things -- complaining to the officials and talking back -- than the younger players.



Avery Johnson, who won the league's Coach of the Year award last season, might stand only 5-10, but his voice is heard when he speaks.



"Avery expects a lot out of us," Anthony Johnson said. "He runs a tight ship, he cracks the whip and when he cracks it, you know it and feel it. Avery holds everybody accountable. (All-Star) Dirk (Nowitzki), if he's out there messing around, he subs him out. There's no situation where he allows guys to play through inconsistency or lack of intensity. That's something that is welcome by all NBA players."