The Latrell Sprewell-P.J. Carlesimo brouhaha that shook
professional basketball and the sports world has reverberated to the
collegiate level, where it has some wondering whether there should be
guidelines governing the behavior of coaches.
While no one even remotely condones Sprewell’s attack on Carlesimo,
there is evidence that it was precipitated by the verbal berating of
Sprewell by Carlesimo. Can coaches go too far? And if they do, what is
the appropriate response from younger, less mature college athletes?
“Yes, you can go overboard,” said Jim Haney, executive director of
the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). “I think that
clearly there have been times and situations that make us question
whether a coach has crossed the line.
“To think that the relationship between coaches and players is not
an issue would be naive,” he continued. “In a tragic situation like
Sprewell’s, no one wins. But those of us on the outside can use that as
an opportunity to look at the misfortune of someone else and what we
can learn from it and what we can apply, because obviously we don’t
want to see ourselves in the same situation.”
Members of the NABC are expected to adhere to an association code
of ethics that calls, in part, for coaches to “treat all persons with
dignity and respect providing a model of fair play and sportsmanship.”
Despite that, there have been several documented incidents in
college sports over the years regarding coaches and their behavior
towards players — including a basketball coach fired for allegedly
using demeaning and vulgar language toward his players.
Then there is the basketball coach who was fired for using the “N”
word when referring to Black players. He tried to justify it as a
motivational tool.
