Scathing criticism from prominent ex-players is hurting UCLA
Gaining the support of a notoriously hard-to-please fan base is no longer the greatest challenge facing a UCLA basketball coach.
Bruins fans seem reasonable compared to some of the school’s most prominent former players.
In the final two years of Ben Howland’s tenure in Westwood, Bill Walton used his national TV platform to call for a change of leadership during every UCLA game he broadcasted. Then Wednesday, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar appeared on SiriusXM NBA Radio and expressed displeasure with how UCLA has performed under Howland’s replacement Steve Alford.
“It’s real ugly, man. I have to say that,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “I watched them in the playoffs. They don’t even know how to run the fast break. You know, I’m not trying to sit on the sidelines and throw stones at Coach Alford. He has a tough job. But people used to learn how to play the game at UCLA. I don’t think that’s happening now, and I think that’s a real disappointment to those of us who are part of the tradition.”
Scathing comments like those are damaging to the fragile health of UCLA’s program even if fans dissatisfied with Alford are quick to applaud them.
In the short term, Abdul-Jabbar is providing easy fodder for opposing coaches recruiting against the Bruins. In the long term, Abdul-Jabbar is fueling the perception that UCLA isn’t as desirable a job as its location and pedigree would suggest because it lacks the resources of a Kentucky or North Carolina yet the expectations are still similar.
Alford has taken UCLA to back-to-back Sweet 16s in his first two seasons and has four Rivals top 50 recruits committed in the next two classes, yet an influential former player publicly declares him “a real disappointment?” That’s the sort of thing that surely would give an Archie Miller or Tony Bennett reason to hesitate should the UCLA job someday come open again.
Alford certainly is not exempt from criticism for his performance as UCLA coach thus far, but the strangest part of Abdul-Jabbar’s comments is that he chose to attack the third-year coach’s teaching ability.
UCLA has improved steadily from November to March in both Alford’s two seasons and Norman Powell, Tony Parker and Kyle Anderson are among the many players who developed rapidly under his tutelage. Those are signs that Alford and his staff are doing an excellent job in skill development and in putting their players in a position to succeed.
Where Alford has fallen short of expectations is in his ability to connect with the UCLA fan base, generate interest in the program and fill Pauley Pavilion. UCLA’s average attendance dropped from 9,549 in Ben Howland’s final year to 7,711 last season despite the presence of a new head coach and a newly renovated arena.
It’s also fair to question whether Alford’s recent recruiting success is too dependent on the connection between assistant coach David Grace and the Compton Magic AAU program. What happens to UCLA if Grace lands another job or if the Magic stop producing so many elite prospects each season? Will the Bruins revert back to the issues they had in Alford’s first two recruiting classes when they missed on several prominent Los Angeles-area prospects?
None of that was among Abdul-Jabbar’s concerns, which suggests he probably hasn’t been paying close attention to his alma mater. In fact, his criticism smacked of sour grapes from a man who publicly expressed interest in the UCLA job after Howland’s firing but never became a serious candidate.
What’s curious about the criticism from Walton and Abdul-Jabbar is that it’s in stark contrast to what their former college coach likely would have done under similar circumstances. Never once did John Wooden publicly criticize one of his UCLA successors even though it had to irk him when the program he led to 10 national titles fell from college basketball’s peak.
Twelve years ago, just months after UCLA hired Howland, I had the chance to ask Wooden about the inevitable comparisons that arise between the Bruins’ heyday and every subsequent era.
“They’re not fair at all because things have changed so much,” Wooden responded. “I learned from my dad that you never compare.”
Wooden’s former players might want to follow that same approach. Griping over how the program has slipped isn’t helping it get back to its former heights. It’s only making that task more difficult.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
