Unseld may have gotten in the door of the NBA because of his father, but as he sat inside Capital One Arena as the Wizards’ newest coach, the team’s brass made clear his hiring wasn’t about nostalgia or his name. Unseld, after all, has spent the last 16 years as an NBA assistant with four teams — most recently with the Denver Nuggets. He’s paid his dues and earned his shot.
Unseld’s return to Washington is a homecoming of sorts, given that he started his coaching career 16 years ago on the Wizards’ bench behind then-coach Eddie Jordan in 2005. In that time he’s built a reputation as a defensive stalwart — a coach credited with helping the Nuggets transform from the second-worst unit in the league to a top 10 unit within two years.