Two days after being named Coach of the Year by his peers, Dwane Casey saw his stint with the Toronto Raptors come to an end. Several coaches and players around the NBA were a bit surprised to hear of Casey’s dismissal, including Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star LeBron James.
Casey, now 61 years of age, led the Raptors to a franchise record mark in the win column (53) and a No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference standings. However, Toronto was recently eliminated from the playoffs by James and the Cavs in four games.
It’s the third consecutive year that the Raptors — led by Casey — have been knocked out of playoff contention by James and the Cavs.
For whatever reason, there were some who thought Casey’s firing came as a result of his performance in the postseason. And furthermore, some actually blamed James for Casey’s termination — a fact Marla Ridenour of the Akron Beacon Journal touched on in her recent article. James, however, says he “isn’t a one-man army.”
“I don’t know. I’m definitely not a one-man army,” James said. “I’ve been fortunate to play with two great franchises in my career and played with some really, really good players. … It sucks that with the great season that they had, looking at the level of success they’ve had over the last three, four years. “Probably within the last five years, I bet they’ve improved in winning percentage every single year. But I guess their front office wants playoff success. That’s what it boils down to, I guess.”
James is right about Casey improving Toronto’s winning percentage each season. When Casey joined the Raptors seven years ago, the team posted a 23-43 record. That’s not good, to be sure. However, Casey went on to improve Toronto’s record for five consecutive seasons. And just for the record, Toronto made the playoffs for five straight seasons under Casey.
According to several reports, there are already teams around the league interested in Casey’s services. It sounds like he won’t be out of a job long.