Cowans To Coach Warriors

April 18, 2000 / 11:21 PM EDT / CBS/AP

Nine days after hugging assistant Dave Cowens following a rare victory and telling him to take his job, Golden State Warriors coach Garry St. Jean made the move official.

St. Jean announced at a party for season-ticket holders Tuesday night that Cowens, a Hall of Fame player and former coach of the Boston Celtics and Charlotte Hornets, will take over as Warriors coach at the end of the season.

St. Jean will remain as general manager.

Cowens, who has been with Golden State as an assistant since Jan. 31, resigned as Charlotte's coach 15 games into the 1998-99 season. He has a 136-111 record as coach with the Celtics (1978-79) and Hornets (1996-99).

Cowens, who starred for 10 seasons with the Celtics, spent his final season as a player with the 1982-83 Milwaukee Bucks, on which St. Jean was an assistant.

Cowens said he feels comfortable with the Warriors.

"I know the personnel. I know the general manager and have a good relationship with him," said Cowens, who has never said why he left the Hornets in 1999 and skirted the subject again Tuesday. "When someone wants you and they need you, it's a good place to be."

St. Jean took over as coach when P.J. Carlesimo was fired Dec. 28. He will coach the Warriors in their season finale Wednesday night at home against Phoenix, then turn the job over to Cowens.

Antawn Jamison, one of the young players the Warriors hope to build a winning team around, said Cowens' no-nonsense approach and his playoff experience as a player will help Golden State.

"As a player, he had a reputation as a hard-nosed guy who really accomplished a lot he wasn't supposed to," Jamison said. "He's a guy that really lays down the discipline, and I feel that's something that's really going to benefit this club."

After a 117-103 home win over Denver on April 9, St. Jean put his arm around Cowens' shoulders and said he should take over as coach. Cowens said OK, and a few days later signed a three-year contract with the club.

St. Jean said the move was announced Tuesday so he and Cowens could discuss the change with Warriors players, and said he felt there was no need to look at other potential coaches.

"We felt, looking around the league, you're not going to find a better candidate out there right now," St. Jean said.

St. Jean said it became too difficult being both coach and general manager. He had expected to stay as coach as well, but changd his mind this month.

"I came to the conclusion it would be best for me serving the team to go back upstairs. There were a lot of times I was looking over my shoulder to the office," he said. "I look at our team and our record. We have a lot of decisions to make, basketball-wise."

The Warriors are 19-62 this season, with three losing streaks of 10 games or longer. They have the third-worst record in the NBA.

The Warriors were 6-21 when Carlesimo was fired by St. Jean in late December. But the losing continued under St. Jean, who was 13-41 heading into Wednesday's finale.

St. Jean coached the Sacramento Kings for five years before taking the general manager's job with the Warriors before the 1997-98 season. And Jamison said the players knew St. Jean wanted to go back to that front-office job.

"I think a lot of guys knew Saint was going to give it up. We didn't know it would be this year, we thought it might be next year," Jamison said. "I knew Saint would rather be up there with his kids and his wife watching the game, and I think he deserved that."