I wonder, though, if they have quit on Obie (I don’t think they have; they’ve played pretty hard all season, even battling in that Orlando game), but if they were to have quit, would the virulent O’Brien bashers in the fan-base take some blame? For sapping a coach’s credibility, giving players an excuse, etc.

If the players are constantly told by fans how horrible their coach is, how can they not tune that out? Maybe they even start to be convinced it’s true.

There’s no excuse for NBA players to quit on a coach, honestly, because you don’t just quit on a coach: you also quit on teammates and fans, and owners are affected, too.

But there’s this poor tendency among fans to villanize the coach and to think of the coach as separate and apart from the team. It’s hard to imagine anyone unleashing Obie-style hate and contempt on a struggling player like Roy Hibbert, but they’re both out there representing the Pacers. They’re both working hard for the Pacers. They both want the Pacers to win.

There’s a before clear-and-after that could be a coincidence, could be a sign of players easing commitment on that end, could be a sign of more energy expended to make the terrible offense better, I have no idea.