Being an NBA coach is a precarious, fragile thing—outside of a handful of elite coaches and wet-eared newbies with no expectations, most NBA coaches are just a bad week in May away from getting fired. This year alone, immensely pedigreed coaches like Nick Nurse (Raptors), Monty Williams (Suns), Doc Rivers (Sixers), and Mike Budenholzer (Bucks) were all axed; for context, Nurse, Williams and Budenholzer have all won Coach of the Year in the last five years and Rivers was named one of the 15 best coaches in NBA history just last year for his work with the Celtics, Clippers and, most recently, Sixers. NBA coaches have never operated within thinner margins for error. These sky high expectations, according to Clippers coach Ty Lue, represent a dangerous double standard.

“A coach makes 1 mistake or 2 mistakes, he gets fired,” Lue said during a recent appearance on The Shop on Max.  “But a player can have 7 turnovers, 4 for 15, 4 for 19 [shooting]. It doesn't make sense. You keep firing good coaches, keep blaming the coaches. Everybody's gonna make mistakes  I don't care how you look at it. You can go into a series and be prepared, but you're going to make a mistake.”

While it's understandable on a team-by-team basis why Nurse, Williams, Rivers and Budenholzer were let go, Ty Lue is correct that their collective firings represent a worrying trend. In total, only five of the NBA's 30 coaches have held their current job for more than three full seasons. Conversely, by making the Finals, the Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat highlighted the importance of continuity. Whereas other teams are rushing to find the hot new coach, Michael Malone has been in Denver since 2015 while Erik Spoelstra has helmed Miami since 2008.