Consistent losing has consequences

Sooner or later your best-laid plans blow up in your face. The NBA Finals are not far away with Indiana vs. Miami in the East Final and Oklahoma City vs. San Antonio in the West. Los Angeles is a mess. The Lakers are bad. The Clippers are good, but their owner, Donald Sterling, is bad, and that team is a war zone.

The owners and League Commissioner Adam Silver are in a fight to rid themselves of a billionaire who is bad for business. And I’m being kind, since the end of the NBA regular season the league has been exposed thanks to Sterling.

Around the league — Detroit, Cleveland, Utah, New York, Minnesota, Los Angeles and Golden State — all fired or had their head coaches walk away. Three coaches with losing teams — New York, Utah and Cleveland — all fired for probable cause: Mike Woodson, Tyrone Corbin and Mike Brown again.

Golden State dumped Mark Jackson for what reason? Steve Kerr replaces him. Never been a coach before, yet he gets five years, $25 million. That’s some rookie scale, I’ll tell you.

Locally, the Timberwolves (40-42) are in full head-coach search, and Flip Saunders would love to do the job, but owner Glen Taylor has told him he wants him to focus on running the overall franchise. Kevin Love, the team’s three-time All-Star after six years, has told the team, according to sources, that he will not re-sign with the Timberwolves again.

Love’s current deal is up July 2015. Nobody wants to be told that a player doesn’t enjoy being here and wants out. Stop and consider what the Timberwolves must do now.

They’d better get the right coach, because he will allow them some time to convince Love of where the organization is headed. At least for now, it’s worst-case scenario. And can they figure out how they plan to get value in exchange by trading him?

If Love has, as is rumored, had enough of losing in Minnesota, it reminds us that without question, consistent losing over time wears on you. And you realize as a player that the clock is running — I’m making guaranteed money, and Minnesota is guaranteed for losing. Just call it the consequences of losing.

Larry Fitzgerald can be heard weekday mornings on KMOJ Radio 89.9 FM at 8:25 am, on WDGY-AM 740 Monday-Friday at 12:17 pm and 4:17 pm, and at www.Gamedaygold.com. He also commentates on sports 7-8 pm on Almanac (TPT channel 2). Follow him on Twitter at FitzBeatSr. Larry welcomes reader responses to info@larry-fitzgerald.com, or visit www.Larry-Fitzgerald.com.