Wizards interim coach flexible about future

BOSTON - Washington Wizards interim coach Ed Tapscott is open to working in management or on the bench now that Flip Saunders is set to become head coach.

"I'll be flexible to see what opportunities are provided for me in the future, whether they be in the front office or coaching or even on the business side," Tapscott said before Washington played the final game of a poor season Wednesday night against the Boston Celtics. "Coaching's the most fun, even this year."

Washington ends the season with the worst record in the Eastern Conference. It began Wednesday's game with a 19-62 record, one loss less than its worst 82-game record in franchise history.

Saunders, the former coach of Minnesota and Detroit, has agreed to coach the Wizards, with an announcement expected next week, an NBA executive told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the season had not ended and the Wizards aren't prepared to make a formal announcement.

Tapscott said he expected to talk with president of basketball operations Ernie Grunfeld "in the next couple of days or weeks."

He was hired as Washington's director of player development before the 2007 season, then became a pro coach for the first time when Eddie Jordan was fired as coach after starting the season at 1-10.

Tapscott was president and chief executive operating officer of the Charlotte Bobcats from 2003-06. He also served as interim president, general manager and vice president of player personnel and basketball operations for the New York Knicks. His last year as a head coach before this season was in 1990 at American University.

"I have, I think, an interesting resume after all of these years," he said. "I've enjoyed all those things. All of those things are challenging."

He enjoys coaching most.

"There's something extremely genuine about what you do and what you're trying to accomplish," Tapscott said. "The results are pretty black and white."

He said he went into his last game as coach of the Wizards with "sort of a wistful feeling. You always want to be as successful as you possibly can be and we didn't have the type of success we wanted here, and we all share in that."

AP Sports Writer Joseph White in Washington contributed to this report.

A service of the Associated Press(AP)