Brian Scalabrine talks returning to Boston, making the shift from coaching back to commentating

A few days ago, Brian Scalabrine announced he would be returning to Boston as a broadcaster in a letter that parodied LeBron James' "I'm coming home" announcement.

Scal recently appeared on 98.5's Toucher and Rich radio show to discuss his return on a slightly more serious note, as well as making the shift from coaching back to commentating:

“I enjoyed my time [in Golden State]. I enjoyed working with the players and learning from a different organization,” said Scal. “But right now I have three young kids and it’s probably a better move for me to focus more on doing broadcasting, which is a less-stressful job, and spending more time with my family. And what better place to do that than Boston?”

In the interview, The White Mamba touched on a variety of other topics, and went into detail about his coaching stint with Golden State and his falling out with Mark Jackson, which he dubbed "a difference of opinion." Scal felt disappointed that the Warriors' coaching staff "could have done more and we didn't,"  and when Jackson sensed their "difference in philosophies," he re-assigned Scal to coach in the D-League instead of serving on his coaching staff.

The Golden State drama came as quite a shock to Scal, who cited how he was "so used to seeing Doc Rivers and Tom Thibodeau" and it threw him through a loop when the interactions between the Warriors coaches were very different than how he witnessed his coaches behave during his time as a player.

Scalabrine also mentioned that when Golden State fired Mark Jackson and hired Steve Kerr, they reached out to Scal to ask if he would want to continue to serve as a coach in their organization. Scal thought that "at the time, it probably wasn't the best move" for him to stay in coaching. He had taken a few months after the completion of the D-League's season to spend time with his family, and realized that the coaching lifestyle was difficult on his wife and kids. Scal wanted to spend more time with them while his children were still young, which led to his decision to take his talents back to Boston and the broadcasting booth.

In any event, Scalabrine is a natural in front of the camera and on the microphone, and Boston fans are fortunate that he will be serving as an analyst on CSNNE this upcoming season alongside Tommy Gorman when the Celtics are on the road.

To listen to the full interview, click here or use the embedded audio player below by clicking on the green button.


Audio recording >>