Okay. What should Sam Presti be looking for in his next head coach with a rebuild on the immediate horizon?
I’d be looking for a young hungry coach with proven basketball smarts and the abilty to take on whatever obstacles come his way. The fact Mike Boynton is black doesn’t sway me. The fact is I’ve observed Mike Boynton from the lense of an OU and Thunder fan and been immensely impressed on how he handles himself in turbulent waters.
How he handles people. His human skill set is impressive.
He was a point guard as a player. He’s tough and old school. When he speaks to a player he expects the player to listen. Given the Thunder are going to be rebuilding with a core of Shai, Dort, and Baze…I could easily visualize Mike Boynton and these guys melding seamlessly from Day 1.
The Second Rule of Coaching is you coach through your own unique human personality. I can tell you this as someone who played sports…I would have gone through fire for Mike Boynton. He’s fair. He’s a player’s coach, but you’re not not going to behave like a knucklehead in his program.
The Thunder to date have not have had a black head coach. I love Maurice Cheeks, but like Joe Biden he has a problem…he’s too old for this gig at this juncture.
Nick has never been a head coach. What if you hired Mike Boynton as head coach and brought Nick on staff as an assistant?
Recently the NCAA hammered O State over the Lamont Evans thing. I thought the sanctions were way overboard given the overall landscape of college basketball at the mens level.
Coach Boynton signed two of the best players in the country in Cade Cunningham and Rondel Walker. Neither backed out of their committment to Mike Boynton. They’re both still coming to Stillwater even though the team will not be allowed to play in the NCAA Tournament.
They didn’t waiver. Cade Cunningham was the No. 1 player in this year’s high school class in the country. He had options, but he didn’t waiver. I find this impressive.
Sam Presti said in his virtual presser he’s in no hurry to hire the next coach. But if I were Sam Presti I’d check with the Mike Boynton camp and see if he’s interested in coaching a Thunder core of Shai, Dort, and Baze sometime in the near future.
I love the Mike Boynton creed..’Work wins.’
I’d interview Mike Boynton and be prepared for him to knock it out of the proverbial ball park.
Work wins when coupled with smarts and talent.