OAKLAND, Calif., Dec. 15 (UPI) -- The Golden State Warriors fired coach Dave Cowens Saturday, one day after he kicked point guard Mookie Blaylock out of practice.
According to the Contra Costa Times, Cowens will be replaced by assistant Brian Winters, who will coach the team for the remainder of the season.
General manager Garry St. Jean planned an evening news conference prior to the Warriors' game against Memphis.
Since beginning the season 5-3, the Warriors have dropped 12 of 15 games, with Cowens becoming increasingly frustrated. Golden State suffered a 105-100 home loss to the Orlando Magic on Friday night.
Star forward Antawn Jamison and reserve guard Bob Sura both have publicly questioned Cowens' substitution rotations.
The Times reported Saturday that Cowens kicked Blaylock out of practice Friday because he "wasn't ready" to practice and "didn't respond" to instruction.
After three months as an assistant under St. Jean, Cowens was named coach on April 18, 2000. In parts of two seasons, he posted a 25-80 record, including a 17-65 mark in 2000-01.
The Warriors were ravaged by injuries last season, when they used 23 different lineups and led the NBA with 414 player games lost to injury.
However, the team has been relatively healthy this season and has added first-round picks Jason Richardson and Todd Murphy, both of whom have played well at times.
A Hall of Famer and one of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players, Cowens guided the Charlotte Hornets to a pair of 50-win seasons in 1996-97 and 1997-98 but was fired early in the 1998-99 campaign after a 4-11 start.
He has a career coaching mark of 161-191, including a 27-41 mark as a player-coach with Boston in the 1978-79 season.
Winters was the first coach of the Vancouver Grizzlies and was fired midway through his second season, going 23-102. Prior to that, he had worked as an assistant for nine years under Lenny Wilkens in Cleveland and Atlanta.
Winters was hired as a Warriors assistant on Dec. 27, 1999.
