Kevin McHale is no longer the coach of the Houston Rockets.
This developed after the team had a 'players only' meeting. It was not the first one in the season, as DeMarcus Cousins also called one for the Sacramento Kings.
Now, the Rockets had their own, and the players are keeping it under wraps as ESPN's Calvin Watkins reported.
"What happens in the room, stays in the room," Dwight Howard said.
"It was a good talk for us," James Harden said. "We hadn't had an opportunity to communicate like that since the season had been going."
Harden added: "After the talk, we had a really good practice. Guys communicated. We worked hard. Now, it's about carrying over. It's about going out there and carrying it to the floor."
After the Sacramento Kings' infamous meeting, George Karl almost got fired. After the Rockets' meeting, Kevin McHale did get fired.
However, who should really take the blame for the Houston Rockets' slump?
According to USA Today citing confidential sources, "Harden's play and aloofness have frustrated teammates, and McHale took the brunt of the blame for the team's play. Practices were not resulting in improved play in games." Does this mean that the other players are blaming James Harden?
Some quarters have pointed out that firing McHale would not improve Harden's atrocious field goal percentage, at 37.2% from the field and 26.2% on three-pointers with 4.8 turnovers per game. He has been the catalyst leading Houston to 29th place in three-point shooting percentage (29%).
Considering how the Rockets are reliant on the three point shot, we can see why they're losing. However, it's not just Harden's shooting, CBS reports that Harden and the rest of the Rockets have an effort problem.
Perhaps what led to McHale's downfall is that he was no longer eliciting respect from his players. We would never know whether Harden or the players asked for his head on a silver platter, but GM Daryl Morey simply needed to do what was best for the team.
If we need to blame someone, there's always Lil B.