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Bye, Bye, Bibby (Again)
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For the second time in less than a year, Henry Bibby has been fired as head coach of a Los Angeles basketball team. This time the former UCLA player and USC coach was ousted by the WNBA's LA Sparks. We're not surprised.Henry Bibby hasn't been a good coach since he took USC to the Elite 8. We've been hard on him the past. We think fairly. From his irrational benchings caused by silly temper tantrums, to allowing the SC program to fall into disarray, Bibby has had his difficulties over the past few years.
With the Sparks, Bibby found a way to have a losing record with Lisa Leslie and Chamique Holdsclaw, two of the best players in women's basketball. Sure Leslie had some injuries, but not enough to warrant the Sparks missing the playoffs.
We thought the Bibby hire was bizarre before the season, but it doesn't look nearly as strange as interim replacement Joe "Jellybean" Bryant. That's right. It's Kobe Bryant's dad. Kobe conspiracists might claim that this is the Lakers star's attempt to firm his grip over LA professional basketball. But that is far from the truth. Kobe and his father have a tepid relationship at best. The two didn't speak to each other for several years after Kobe's marriage, and Joe didn't even see his granddaughter until she was almost 2. The pair have finally sort of reconciled, but things still aren't peachy in the Bryant family. Joe Bryant was simply brought to the Sparks by Bibby, who was his former teammate with the Philadelphia 76ers. He has some head coaching experience in the ABA, so here we are.
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