The Washington Wizards made official Monday what most people had previously suspected, reaching agreement on a two-year contract with Randy Wittman to be the team's head coach.
Wittman went 18-31 as the Wizards' head coach in the final games of the 2011-12 after taking over for the fired Flip Saunders on January 24. Wittman has now been a head coach for all or part of six NBA seasons and has a cumulative record of 118-238 and no playoff appearances.
Here's Wizards owner Ted Leonsis on the hiring.
Randy is a positive force for our team - we can have continuity and he can coach off of the great momentum he was generating for us at the season's end. He can add to the staff and add more experience on the bench, and he has carte blanche to make investments in player development ...
Randy is a good man - a pro's pro and a strong presence. His style, which I call "tough but fair", is very respected. He relishes teaching and he preaches respect for the game, hard work and team precepts. I enjoyed getting to know him better during our day together and I also respected his analysis of what we have to do to dramatically improve. He was very candid with me, which I respect very much.
He is the right man for this job. I look forward to working with him and Ernie [Grunfeld] this off season
The Wizards have called a press conference for 3 p.m. at Verizon Center. Video of the press conference, via CSN Washington, is below.
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