The Detroit Pistons announced late last night that they had fired assistant GM Rob Murphy after a lengthy investigation.
According to the Detroit Free Press, Murphy was let go after it was determined that he violated company rules with an inappropriate relationship with a former female employee. The Pistons didn’t get into specifics, calling it “personal.”
The investigation, which was carried out by a national law firm, took over seven months, but I guess better late than never, though Murphy’s time with the Detroit Pistons has been over for some time, this just made it official.
This comes while the Pistons are in the middle of searching for their next head coach, and the firing of Rob Murphy is connected and reflects the type of franchise Detroit is trying to build.
Detroit Pistons: Search for the next head coach
When the Detroit Pistons announced the candidates they planned to interview for their vacant head coaching position, there was one glaring omission.
After reports that Ime Udoka would be one of the top candidates for the Pistons, they never even scheduled an interview and Udoka instead went to Houston.
Udoka is just off being fired by the Boston Celtics for inappropriate conduct with a female employee, the exact same thing (though the specific circumstances may be different) that Murphy was just fired for.
It would be hypocritical of the Detroit Pistons to interview Udoka just before firing Murphy for the same thing, especially after the team has talked so much about the type of culture they want to create in Detroit. I do think people deserve second chances, but there are plenty of coaches that don’t have these types of incidents on their resume.
The coaching candidates reflect that, as they all have good reputations as coaches as well as human beings, as the last thing the Pistons want to be known for is being the team where this type of conduct is overlooked.
You have to walk the walk, and they have so far this offseason, which is a good thing for a young team trying to build an identity.