Interview: Why Kevin Pritchard was fired

[Dash]

Here is a summary of the Pritchard firing intereview posted on another board.

 

Here are some key bullet points from the interview.

 

-KP not what he was perceived to be publicly

-KP was basically incompotent. Others made him look good.

-He and Tom Penn were not as close as perceived

Penn made attempts to make KP look incompotent in front of other GM’s and agents

-KP was not as beloved within the organization as the public thought he was

many believe that Penn actually wanted KP’s job

-There was a divide among players’ feelings about KP

-He wanted Morrison over Roy. That angered Roy.

-Patterson actually drafted (traded for) Roy and LMA. KP took credit.

-Jason Fillipi (international scout) was responsible for finding Batum not KP

-KP was surrounded by guys to hide his deficiencies..

-KP was the lowest paid GM in the league and he wasn’t happy about it.

 

I trust what this guy has to say more than people like Woj or Stein. He's a former employee of the team that's very well connected as he has many friends in the organization. He’s very familiar with Vulcan and how they operate. Two weeks ago and he came on the air and said that Mark Warkentein would absolutely not be the replacement when KP gets fired. Low and behold Larry Miller said exactly that on draft night.

 

Steve Patterson interview:

 

http://www.955thegame.com/play_window.php?audioType=Episode&audioId=4760290

 

More from Blazersedge:

 

Paul Allen and Vulcan's are tone deaf to PR

- Vulcan's in Seattle throw people under the bus to stay in Paul Allen's good graces

- Berte Kolde is very close to Paul Allen. They have been friends since they were young.

- Warren Lagarie overplayed his hand trying to get a new contract for Penn and KP

- apparently Legarie and Bert Kolde have a longstanding relationship, and Legarie used Kolde by misinforming him about the Penn's status with other teams, that forced Paul Allen to give a Penn a bigger contract and promotion. KP and Penn got caught in that mess, since they perpetuated that perception of that misinformation that Legarie was spewing to Kolde. Furthermore, Kolde has lusted after running a sports franchise for a long time, which would give him motivation to throw KP under the bus.

- KP leaked information to the press and talked behind Paul Allen and Larry Miller's back...basically that KP took credit for the good things that happened, and blamed ownership and the president for things that went badly

- KP unduly got the sole recognition for getting Roy and LMA - The only deal KP made the Roy year, was to get Sergio Rodriguez

- Paul Allen wanted Morrison over Roy

- KP and Penn with Legarie were trying to go around Larry Miller and gather more power in the organization

- Paul Allen is committed to putting a winning team on the floor

- Paul Allen wanted to extend Miles against the recommendation of the gm and president....knees were evaluated and doctors said they wouldn't last 18 months

- It sounds like there isn't enough direct lines of communication between Portland management and Seattle...too bureaucratic

- Paul Allen is very involved with the team....but sometimes people who are not informed or competent (namely Berte Kolde) have his ear

- Haha..this one is good, Patterson says he would've drafted Durant over Oden at the time

 

Not hard to see why he got fired IF this is all true.

[Flight]

IF that's true, then IMO Patterson is the man to thank for everything. I don't believe all of it, but I bet things like wanting Morrison angering Roy were true, or the fact he was underpaid.

[Erick Blasco]

This is good stuff, do you have the blazers edge link?

[Dash]

This is good stuff, do you have the blazers edge link?

 

Yeah sorry about that.

 

Link

[Erick Blasco]

This is why I love how blind some people become when they need a hero figure. Portland's fanbase was ready to elect statues of Pritchard. Yahoo reported months ago that there was major tension within the organization between Pritchard and ownership, but many of Portland's fans just ignored it as shoddy reporting under the premise that Pritchard's results speak for themselves.

 

Even if Pritchard's accomplishments were his and his alone, how can you sell out your bosses the way he has, go behind people's backs, have power trips, and be as egotistical as he was without getting fired?

 

Even on this site, everyone wants him now to be the Suns' GM. If I were a boss, I wouldn't want this guy as a member of my organization. To put it bluntly, he's a major douche. An accomplished one, but a douche nonetheless.