For Jim Lynam, the situation was this: In a matter of days, he was going to coach one of the NBA's best in Chris Webber, a player who keeps coaches employed and seats filled.
Yet minutes after the Washington Bullets' acquisition of Webber was announced a week ago today, a New York-area writer was asking Lynam about the "problem" he was about to inherit.
"Who's saying that? You saying that?" Lynam asked. "Chris is a talented guy, a top pick, last year's Rookie of the Year. There's no problem."
But there was a problem at Golden State, where Webber had a rocky relationship with Warriors coach Don Nelson.
Lynam has known problems in the NBA. In his first head coaching job in the league in 1983-84, he won 30 games with the Los Angeles Clippers. Four seasons later, as a first-year coach with the Philadelphia 76ers, he won 16 games.
Now, the problem Lynam faces is inflated expectations. Boston Celtics vice president M. L. Carr called the Bullets a team to be reckoned with. Indiana Pacers president Donnie Walsh called Washington one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. When Lynam took the job, he began trying to turn around a franchise that had lost 50-plus games for five straight seasons. Now, he suddenly finds himself the coach of a high-profile team, coaching a high-profile player.
"I'm not trying to stifle that kind of [playoff] talk, but you have to give the team a chance," Lynam said. "It took Chicago awhile to make their climb, and they had to tinker a little bit with their chemistry. Detroit made a steady climb. That's the nature of our league."
The nature is also that if you have a superstar player, a coach had better find a way to win.
"I'd be lying if I didn't say this job doesn't have any pressures," Lynam said. "But pressure is about how you deal with it. I feel much more lucky than pressure."
Lynam should feel lucky. "Once in a lifetime" is his response when asked how often one gets to coach a player such as Webber. Now, the first-year Bullets coach gets a chance to lead his second prime-time player, having coached Charles Barkley for five seasons with the Sixers.
No, Lynam doesn't figure Webber to be nearly as outspoken as Barkley. But he does see the same type of talent and intensity.
"It gives your whole team a lot more confidence, because those type players make game-winning plays," Lynam said. "Barkley scores a point, steals a ball, gets a key rebound, and your players know that. Your expectations of success in close games, it automatically rises, and with justification -- over a long period of time, you're watching a guy constantly making those types of plays."
Lynam wasn't at all reluctant for the Bullets to make the Webber deal.
"You have to look a little more long range in this game," Lynam said. "This team had some very good players before, but if you looked at our roster, our athleticism wasn't what it had to be and nor was our inside strength. You're not going to compete with the top, top teams without those ingredients."
Webber's rift with Nelson had a lot to do with his departure from Golden State. But, thus far, the second-year player's remarks about Lynam have all been positive.
"His personality makes you want to play hard," Webber said. "The more your coach cares, the more you want to play. It just seems like he cares, and it makes for a healthy environment."
Now, Lynam will try to maintain that healthy environment by juggling playing time. Webber will be a power forward, but also will play some center. Juwan Howard will come off the bench at power forward, but may see time at center. Lynam said he hopes to play Howard at least half the game. A big question is whom Lynam will start at small forward: Don MacLean or Calbert Cheaney.
"What I do with lineups Friday [against Cleveland at the Baltimore Arena] is not etched in stone," Lynam said. "You can't do too much at one time."
But a lot has happened for the Bullets over a short period of time with the addition of Webber. And an indication of how good the Bullets could be may come tomorrow at the Arena.
"It's a little too early to say what I sense," Lynam said. "But the players know this fellow has something special, in a way of
special gifts and special talents. It should be interesting."