Tyrone Corbin Revisits Utah

Feb 7, 2015; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Jazz CEO Greg Miller talks with Sacramento Kings head coach and former Utah Jazz head coach Tyrone Corbin prior to their NBA game at EnergySolutions Arena. The Jazz won 102-90. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

Quin Snyder and the Utah Jazz and Tyrone Corbin and the Sacramento Kings are two coaches with franchises headed in opposite directions. Ty Corbin might be the unluckiest head coach in the NBA, twice now put in positions to fail while being told to succeed as best he can.

When Corbin was given Mike Malone’s job he was told to pick up the pace by Kings GM Pete D’Alessandro, a task most analysts scoffed at after Corbin’s Utah teams were very near the slowest of NBA paced teams. Sacramento was the 18th-fastest paced team when Ty took over about seven weeks ago. The Kings are now 8th in NBA pace, according to BasketballReference.com.

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One of the coaches many Jazz fans wanted to replace Tyrone Corbin — either during the 2013-14 NBA season or after it — was George Karl, a spectre that continues to stalk the embattled Kings coach from Utah to Sacto. We’ve known since Malone was given the ax that D’Alessandro would likely pursue George Karl at some point.

The tremors of Karl to the Kings are growing into rumbles now, hanging over the former Jazz coach who has been a complete professional under duress for two seasons as a lame duck stop-gap for two franchises.

"Not long after the Jazz named Quin Snyder as his replacement — and only the fifth head coach of the franchise’s Utah era — Corbin landed on his feet in Sacramento as Mike Malone’s lead assistant.Things took a weird turn, however, early in the season when Kings management fired Malone and hired Corbin on an interim basis despite a good start by Sacramento standards.It was the second time Corbin became a head coach under bizarre circumstances. In February of 2011, he was dubbed as Jerry Sloan’s successor after the Hall of Fame coach and longtime lead assistant Phil Johnson shockingly resigned in the middle of the season.–Jody Genessy, Deseret NewsThe Sacramento Kings are seriously considering making another midseason coaching change and bringing in longtime head coach George Karl, according to three people with knowledge of the situation.One person who is involved in the process described the situation as “not in the red zone just yet” but said it had recently advanced to the point where a hire could be made in the coming days. As of early Saturday evening, however, a significant gap remained between the two sides when it came to salary and length of contract. If a deal is going to get done, it’s likely going to take place on Sunday or perhaps Monday.–Sam Amick, USA TODAY"

Tyrone Corbin remains the upbeat class act that he is, not stressing factors outside of his control, worrying only over circumstances that are under his control.

"“I’m fine. I understand the nature of the business. I played in it for 16 years. Changes happen. Change is part of it,” Corbin said."

"“Coach Ty,” Jazz small forward Gordon Hayward said with a smile. “It’s going to be pretty cool to see how the fans react and (to) see him coach another team. … It’s going to be weird for sure. “"

Several weeks ago, we wondered what kind of reception Corbin would receive from fans upon his return to Utah.

The former Utah Jazz player and coach was largely cheered after a solid introduction from Jazz PR announcer Dan Roberts, with only a slight smattering of boo-birds who were largely drowned out by the appreciation of the Utah Jazz fans in EnergySolutions Arena.

"“Just to see him (Saturday), it should be good,” Burke said of Corbin. “I had a really good relationship with him. He was my first NBA coach. He instilled a lot of confidence inside of me. It will be all positives.”Now in his second season, Burke thought that Corbin got some unfair criticism last year.“They didn’t see how much time he spent with us on the court, hands on, how he taught us,” Burke said. “He made me a better player, no doubt in my mind. I’ll always have that relationship with him.”–Jody Genessy, Deseret News"

Whatever happens, class act Tyrone Corbin will once again land on his feet somewhere in basketball.