In Washington, of course, Eddie Jordan fought through injuries to give the franchise four straight playoff appearances, and he was rewarded with a hearty firing once the injuries (to Gilbert Arenas and Brendan Haywood) were too much to overcome. Now, it's Reggie Theus, who was given a roster on which half the players were 25 or younger, with the added bonus of having two of his top players, Francisco Garcia and Kevin Martin, out for big chunks of the year -- Garcia and Martin have played in one game together. But the Kings were losing, so, fire the coach.

The fact that these firings have all come in rapid succession is, in part, coincidence. But there's a little more to it than that. Around the league, patience is at an all-time low, which could very well be the fault of the league's best team -- Boston. Don't forget that, at this time two years ago, the Celtics were a miserable bunch, with Danny Ainge and Doc Rivers on the way out and Paul Pierce angling for the door, too. Now they're the best team in the league and defending champs.

"It's ludicrous, but I do think that's a factor," said one general manager. "The Celtics turned things around so fast that everyone is feeling the pressure to do the same. So you get good people fired. But what do you expect? Not everyone can go and trade for Kevin Garnett. I mean, what was Sacramento expecting? Reggie Theus was learning on the job. You have to give it time. But no one wants to give it time."

One interesting aspect of all the coaching mayhem has been -- stay with me on this tangent here -- the economy. There's been fear about what the nation's economic troubles will mean for sports, but so far, what we've seen on the court has been unaffected. Except when you look at the coaching ranks. It's still very early in the season, and qualified ex-coaches like Flip Saunders and Avery Johnson (as well as interesting would-be coaches like Mark Jackson) are out there. But every team that has fired its coach has so far said it would stick with its interim coach for the year. Which is a wise thing to do if you're trying to save a buck.