A lot is a said about how often players change teams in the NBA these days. The likelihood of someone having a one-team career similar to John Stockton, Reggie Miller, or John Havlicek is almost entirely out of the question.

It's no longer uncommon for players to wear four or five different jerseys throughout a ten-year career. Talent level doesn't matter either. Just look at Shaquille O'Neal (four teams) and Allen Iverson (three).

The NBA has also morphed into an abnormally unbalanced players' league.

The ten guys on the floor at any given time have much more power than the same ten guys did decades ago. With guaranteed contracts worth tens of millions of dollars, often times coaches and general managers are the first people to get the axe when a team struggles.

The NBA's thirty teams have played a total of 1,211 seasons of professional basketball. All told, 451 different coaching hires have been made (for example Larry Brown landed on the list approximately 56 times). On average, a coach lasts 2.7 seasons on the sideline with one team.

Using today's 82-game slate as a guide, that means the average coach lasts roughly 221 games before retiring, quitting, or getting fired.

The average is slightly skewed by the sheer number of either mainstays or day-by-day coaches.

Of the 451 coaches, only forty have lasted more than 500 games with any one team. On the other end, 152 men have lasted fewer than 100 games with a club.

Not surprisingly, the Jazz have the highest average coaching tenure, thanks to Jerry Sloan's 1,600-plus game run with the franchise. Utah has had just six different men lead them in 36 NBA seasons, a mark of 5.8 seasons per coach.

On the other hand, the Grizzlies have hired nine coaches in their fourteen-year history. Look out Marc Iavaroni, guys last an average of 131 games in Memphis.

Before we go any deeper into the averages, let's look at how safe, or unsafe, a coach might be when signing up to lead each of the NBA's 30 teams.

Coaching Stability
Team, Averages # Of Seasons Per Coach
1. Utah, 5.8
2. Boston, 3.9
3. Houston, 3.8
4. Milwaukee, 3.7
5. Miami, 3.5
6. Portland, 3.3
7. Indiana, 3.2
-Dallas, 3.2
-Phoenix, 3.2
10. New Orleans, 3.0
-Philadelphia, 3.0
12. L.A. Lakers, 2.9
-Sacramento, 2.9
-Golden State, 2.9
15. New York, 2.6
-Oklahoma City, 2.6
17. Minnesota, 2.5
-Orlando, 2.5
-New Jersey, 2.5
20. Washington, 2.4
21. San Antonio, 2.3
-Toronto, 2.3
-Cleveland, 2.3
-Atlanta, 2.3
25. Denver, 2.2
-Chicago, 2.2
27. Detroit, 2.0
28. L.A. Clippers, 1.8
29. Charlotte, 1.7
30. Memphis, 1.6

As you can see, the average time a coach lasts with a particular team has no bearing on whether or not that franchise is a successful one.

Historically, the Bucks haven't enjoyed too much success, but they rank fourth on the list thanks lengthy stays by Don Nelson (884 games) and Larry Costello (674).

The Pistons (3 titles), Bulls (6 titles), and Spurs (4 titles) are among the NBA's most respected and accomplished clubs. Yet, they all rank in the bottom third of the league in coaching "stability".

Sure, Gregg Popovich has coached in San Antonio for 13-plus seasons, but Doug Moe (312) is the only other man that has been on the team's sideline for more than 300 games. Meanwhile, seven of the Spurs' eighteen coaches have lasted less than 100 games.

Detroit, a professional team for the last 61 years, has employed thirty coaches. Eleven of those men have last fewer than 100 games while only Chuck Daly (738) was on the job for more than 300 contests.

Coaching stability doesn?t always breed success.

However, the Celtics, second on the "stable" list behind the Jazz, are the NBA's most storied franchise and have also been rather patient with their leaders.

Four coaches ? Red Auerbach, Chris Ford, Tom Heinsohn, and K.C. Jones ? were on the sidelines for over 400 games, and Doc Rivers will reach the landmark by season's end.

This piece, however, isn't necessarily about team-by-team stability. It's about the propensity of teams to blame their coaches for their struggles.

Breaking coaching stays down, men that were hired prior to 1980 lasted an average of 233 games.

However, men hired in 1980, or later, have coached just 199 contests.

The lack of confidence many franchises have in their leaders in the current era is evident, but it's even more obvious when breaking down full coaching stays (non-active) across the last few decades.

Decade-by-Decade Breakdown
Decade:  # of Coaches Hired, Average # of Games
1940s: 9, 301.2 games
1950s: 26, 172.8 games
1960s: 49, 245.1 games
1970s: 78, 240.4 games
1980s: 78, 221.6 games (excluding Sloan)
1990s: 104, 209.7 games (excluding Popovich)
2000s: 75, 137.6 (excludes 28 other active coaches)

Author's Note: the firings of P.J. Carlesimo and Eddie Jordan were not factored into this piece

As you see plainly see by looking at the decade-by-decade breakdown, teams are becoming less and less patient with their coaches.

The average number of games per coaching tenure has decreased steadily from the 1960s on. The average for this decade will undoubtedly be lower than it was in the 1990s, but I expect to see the number rise once the ball drops on the 2010-11 season.

For example, Eddie Jordan coached 420-plus games in Washington. With his tenure having come to an end on Monday, his numbers could be added to the data for this decade. Adding him quickly, the average tenure for the 76 coaches that have been hired and fired this decade jumps to 141 games.

The question remains ? will coaches ever earn any level of stability in today's NBA?

Under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement, it's not likely. With players signing guaranteed contracts, it's becoming increasingly easier for owners and general managers to fire their coaches rather than overhaul their rosters.

Just look at the situation in New York and Indiana with Stephon Marbury and Jamaal Tinsley, respectively.

Neither team is willing to completely rid themselves of their disgruntled point guard because it would cost the organization millions and millions of dollars just to buyout the player. So they have allowed the players to remain under contract without spending a single second on the court.

Mike D'Antoni and Jim O'Brien would never enjoy such a luxury.

While it's true that some coaches receive contracts full of guaranteed money - just ask Larry Brown - for the most part it's much easier and cheaper for a team to relieve its coach of his duties.

It's unlikely that much will change in the near future, so coaches will either have to start vying for the same protection as players, or face an alarming amount of job insecurity.

For guys like Brown, hopping from job-to-job might not matter (and it actually might turn into a rather profitable cycle), but for most, the coaching turnover is just the easy way out for struggling teams.

Andrew Perna is a Senior Writer for RealGM.com. Please feel free to contact him with comments or questions via e-mail ? Andrew.Perna@RealGM.com.