Wizards Head Coach Wes Unseld Jr. Moving to Front Office Role, per Report

Washington holds the second-worst record in the NBA this season through 43 games.

Washington Wizards coach Wes Unseld Jr. is out as the franchise’s head coach and will move into a front-office role, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported Thursday morning.

After a 118–107 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night, Washington is now 7-36, the second-worst record in the NBA. Unseld went 77-130 in his two-plus seasons with the franchise.

The Wizards are promoting assistant coach Brian Keefe for the remainder of the season, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The team reportedly plans to do a full search for its next coach in the offseason.

It is no surprise that owner Ted Leonsis and the rest of Washington’s front-office chose a soft landing for Unseld in the wake of his dismissal as coach. His father, Wes Unseld Sr., is a franchise legend. Unseld Sr. played his entire Hall of Fame career with the Baltimore and Washington Bullets franchise, and later became an assistant coach, head coach and general manager with the team.

Wes Unseld Jr. is stepping aside as the Washington Wizards’ head coach and moving into a front-office role with the franchise :: Isaiah J. Downing/USA TODAY Sports

Unseld Jr. began his NBA career working for his dad as a personnel scout when Unseld Sr. was the team’s general manager in 2005. He eventually was promoted to an assistant coach role and later made stops with the Golden State Warriors, Orlando Magic and Denver Nuggets in assistant positions before returning to the Wizards as head coach in July 2021.

There’s plenty of history with the Unseld family and the Wizards, and now Unseld Jr. will serve in the front office and potentially play a role in searching for his coaching replacement.