Apparently, no conversation is safe in the NBA.
Warriors assistant coach Darren Erman was fired earlier this month because of a “violation of company policy,” and the violation reportedly was that Erman secretly recorded conversations between coaches and players.
“He was taping everything,” a source told ESPN. “Taping pregame speeches wouldn’t have been that bad, but he was taping guys just sitting around talking in the coaches’ office.”
Erman, named the Celtics’ director of scouting on Tuesday, according to a Yahoo! Sports report, would record meetings and informal discussions without the knowledge of those involved. Sometimes, he was not even present, leaving his phone behind to record talks when he left a room. Head coach Mark Jackson has clashed this season with Warriors management.
“Was he taping it for himself or was he taping it for management? That’s not known,” a source said. “But he had a lot of communication with members of the front office.”
Erman’s behavior reportedly changed this March, and he soon was discovered making recordings a few weeks later. Erman told the team he had been recording conversations for three weeks. The news about Erman comes as Clippers owner Donald Sterling was allegedly recorded by his girlfriend making racist remarks.
Warriors general manager Bob Myers described the reason for Erman’s termination as a serious issue, but would not go into detail.
“We were unaware, and when made aware, forced to act,” Myers said.