The Lakers start to move. The Los Angeles team, which saw its season end in the fifth game of the first round of the playoffs against the Nuggets (4-1), fired Darvin Ham as coach and is now looking for a replacement. Something they are in no hurry to do, starting the selection process this week to choose a new coach. A high-risk sport for whoever is involved, since since Phil Jackson’s retirement no one has lasted more than three seasons: just over one for Mike Brown, almost two for Mike D’Antoni, two for Bryon Scott, three by Luke Walton, the same ones that Frank Vogel lasted. And another two from Ham, who said goodbye through the back door despite the 2023 Conference finals and the victory in the In-Season Tournament. Nonconformity is inherent to the Los Angeles franchise, permanently married to glory but which has won only one ring (2020) in the last 14 years. A wait that is too long for an entity that has 17 awards in its showcases.
The list that the Lakers manage is not short, but there are three names that have emerged above the rest: JJ Reddick, James Borrego and Sam Cassell. And for the selection process, Shams Charania has leaked that the team is counting on the unexpected services of Mike Krzyzewski, a legend on the North American benches, with 42 years of experience at Duke University, winning the NCAA five times. And he was coach of the United States team from 2007 to 2016, once again allowing Team USA to dominate international basketball, with three consecutive victories in the Olympic Games (2008, 2012 and 2016) and two World Cups (2010 and 2014). and the Tournament of the Americas in 2007, the year of his debut in office.
Of the candidates, much has been said about Reddick: a prolific shooter during his time as a player, it would be one of those decisions that generates contradictory feelings. He has no experience as a coach or assistant and has dedicated himself more to NBA podcasts than anything else since his retirement in 2021. He has one with LeBron James recently released, which brings him closer to the Los Angeles star, who will turn 39 on next month of December. The Lakers want to retain the King, who could welcome the signing of Reddick. And they have already publicly opened up about the possibility of drafting his son Bronny, a decision motivated by the father’s express desire to play with his descendant, something unparalleled in NBA history… and that would have Let’s see how it turns out. Jeanni Buss wants LeBron to finish his career with the Lakers and will do everything possible to keep him with the franchise as long as possible. Something that goes beyond the sporting level and would give the team enormous visibility. Even bigger than what they already have for the simple fact of being the Lakers.
In the case of Borrego and Cassell, the story is different. The first was an assistant for the Hornets and the Magic and inherited an impossible situation in Orlando with the dismissal of Jacque Vaughn. After that, he continued his work alongside Gregg Popovich at the Spurs before doing a great job at the Hornets, going from 23 wins in his first season to 33 in the second and 43 in the third. However, he was strangely fired when Michael Jordan’s cursed franchise was beginning to see the light. Something that returned, of course, to sink a team that always seems to be in the hole and is still one of the few that has never reached the Conference finals with the Pelicans. The case of Cassell, a great player who became an All Star and won two rings in the Rockets of the 90s, those of Hakeem Olajuwon as a star and Rudy Tomjanovich as a coach, is different. He has been an assistant continuously since 2009 (Wizards, Clippers, Sixers and now Celtics) and is looking for his first job as a head coach.
This is how things are in the Lakers, who have missed a Mike Budenholzer who has ended up in the Suns and are not thinking, for the moment, about the return of a jobless Frank Vogel after being fired by the same franchise. Borrego has a certain reputation and Cassell has a reputation for being a good assistant and being close to the players. But no one knows anything about Reddick, a strange situation that we have already seen more times, with franchises choosing to have coaches who have good communication with the squad, friends of the players. A practice that almost never turns out well except in isolated cases of brilliant people (Tyronn Lue at the helm). In short, a puzzle that begins a process that will end with a new figure on the Lakers bench, an always sought-after position that can mean a step forward in a given career, or a collapse if things don’t go exactly as planned. it is wanted in the franchise. And with player empowerment always present. This is the current NBA. Slightly complex.
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2024-05-15 11:58:09
#options #Lakers #bench #Reddick #Borrego #Cassell..
