FanHouse EricMusselman

Tip-Off Timer counts down the days until the first game of the 2009-10 season. On Sunday, there are 44 days remaining -- the same number the Lakers retired in 1983 for Jerry West.

Sometimes the basketball gods smile upon you even if you're not really part of the game. That's what happened to me on Nov. 12, 2004.

OK, so maybe it wasn't any kind of hoops deity that hooked me up; it was Raymond Ridder, the Warriors' director of public relations. Still, I remember to this day my brick of a cellphone ringing that cold morning in Memphis with Ridder at the other end.

"You want to go to lunch with Jerry West?" he asked. Ridder had worked for the Lakers and knew West from his days in L.A., so they were going to catch up. And I was coming along.

NBA Essentials ranks our six favorite stories of the day.

1. DenverPost.com: Carmelo Anthony already cut his hair this season, and now he'll cut yours.

2. TSB: A more candid than usual LeBron James, discussing Obama's election win.

3. Gear Up For Sports: It's all fun and games in the Lakers locker room, as Jordan Farmar clowns Luke Walton.

4. Chris Tomasson, Rocky Mountain News: Is Antonio McDyess unwilling to play in Denver because they mistreated him back in 2002?

5. Pro Basketball News: Eric Musselman wastes his time giving us five reasons why the Lakers can win it all. How about making it interesting and writing the same piece for say, anyone but L.A. or Boston?

6. Paul Coro, AZ Republic: Amare Stoudemire would like you to call him by a new nickname.

Astute blogger PhDribble considered the existence of NBA player development as a balance against the MLB farm system. Henry Abbott took up the issue, concluding there isn't a) much time and b) much motivation for serious player development given the frequency with which the coaching guillotine is used. PhDribble notes Detroit's success with Jason Maxiell and Amir Johnson, and yes, this has worked. But neither Max nor Amir are complete players yet; with the still young base of most teams' roster tails -- the majority of first-rounders are still 19- or 20-year-olds -- you'd consider three to four years as the prime development time.

Four years ago, LeBron James was a month into his rookie campaign. Those years in between were prime development years, yes? Consider this: LeBron and draftmates Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade -- every single one has had more than one coach in their NBA careers, and three of the four have had multiple front-office regimes. Only Wade could be considered to have a stable development environment through his first four years in the league, and he's been dealing with Pat Riley's yo-yo act the entire time.

In last four years, there have been 73 NBA head coaches for the 30 teams. (This isn't counting temporary fill-ins like Brendan Malone; in-season replacements had to total 30 games at the helm to be counted.) Only four teams have gone the (short) span without a coaching change (Washington, San Antonio, Utah and... the Clippers). If there is a player development system for these non-S.A., non-Utah franchises, it's getting shaken up every other year on average. Add in the propensity to trade youngsters, and exactly one 2003 first-rounder has had one NBA coach his entire career (Chris Kaman).

Long-term development -- beyond getting Maxiell to drop some weight over a summer -- isn't possible on a team-by-team basis in the NBA. There's not enough consistency. (This, of course, speaks to the value of consistency in a franchise. Also, player development outside the umbrella of the team works; I know this for I am a Kevin Martin fan. And I know Eric Musselman didn't teach Kevin Martin squat.)

Possesses way too much confidence in own ability, with little to show for it. Expects success, anyways. Has history of not getting along with his superiors and alienating players. Serious inquiries only.

I started reading this little story with bemusement ($).

Former Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings coach Eric Musselman wants to coach in college and is starting the process of getting his name out among search committees so that he's a viable candidate in March.

Musselman has spent his coaching career in and around the NBA and/or professional basketball of some kind. He had two head coaching stints with the Golden State Warriors and most recently with the Sacramento Kings. He was fired in April after last season's 33-49 record.

But sometime after the season, Musselman had an epiphany. He said he realized that he wanted to coach in college instead of being recycled in the NBA.

Cute. I guess I can see it. As the story notes, Musselman is a high energy guy and a bit intense. The shtick wears thin on NBA players and management, but it might translate to college. Sacramento never worked from the beginning.

Then I read a bit more.