Wizards fire Eddie Jordan

WASHINGTON, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- The struggling Washington Wizards have fired Coach Eddie Jordan, 11 games into his sixth season with the NBA team.

A Wizards' announcement Monday said Jordan was "relieved of his duties" and will be replaced by Ed Tapscott, who has been the NBA team's director of player development. Tapscott formerly was head coach at American University.

The Wizards have a 1-10 record this season. Only Oklahoma City, at 1-13 and which has also replaced its coach, has a worse NBA record.

"This was an extremely difficult decision because I'm personally very fond of Eddie," Wizards Chairman Abe Pollin said. He helped bring our franchise back to the playoffs and became ingrained in the Washington, D.C., community. I will forever be grateful for his dedication and hard work.

"However, sometimes circumstances force changes. Our team is not performing to my expectations and I felt it was time to make a change."

Jordan's Washington teams compiled an overall record of 197-224. The Wizards made it to the playoffs the past four years but had only one playoff series victory.

The Wizards have been playing without star guard Gilbert Arenas, sidelined because of knee surgery, and center Brendan Hayward, out after wrist surgery.