Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob has admitted that he fired former coach Mark Jackson due to personality clashes with other members of the organisation.
The Warriors have had an excellent start to their season under rookie coach Steve Kerr, and Lacob believes that Kerr and his backroom staff deserve credit for helping the club forge an identity which was not present under Jackson.
Lacob told InsideBayArea.com: "Part of it was, he couldn't get along with anybody else in the organisation. And, look, he did a great job - and I'll always compliment him in many respects - but you can't have 200 other people in the organisation not like you.
"I think [Kerr] will be great. And he did the one big thing I wanted more than anything else from Mark Jackson, who just wouldn't do, in all honesty, which is hire the very best. Carte blanche.
"Take my wallet. Do whatever it is to get the best assistants there are in the world. Period. End of story. Don't want to hear it. And [Jackson's] answer was, 'Well, I have the best staff.' No, you don't."
Kerr's side are 16-2 in their season following their comfortable win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday.