The Los Angeles Lakers are starting a search for their next head coach after firing Darvin Ham this past Friday. There aren’t any very attractive candidates available, at least not right now, but one of the available candidates could have what it takes to get the team back on track.
For years, there has been a narrative that LeBron James engineers the ousting of head coaches by systematically alienating them over time. He has played for nine head coaches in his 21 NBA seasons, seven of which ended up getting fired, and his critics say it has greatly hurt his legacy.
But according to Brian Windhorst, who has covered James since his high school days, the superstar will not get involved in the Lakers’ coaching search (at 2:40).
"LeBron's friendships in the NBA tend to fall out as quick as they start. There's a long line of former teammates that he was buddy buddy and when it's over they're gone."
–@WindhorstESPN on the possibility of JJ Redick becoming the #Lakers HC because of friendship w. LeBron pic.twitter.com/WhKsjJJ249
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) May 7, 2024
“LeBron doesn’t get involved in coaching hires,” said Windhorst. “For years, for many many coaches, he’s always taken a distance. In fact, and I can’t say this for every candidate, but he generally has a rule, that he won’t engage with a candidate. After the coach has been hired, of course, he’ll have a conversation with the coach. Generally, he wants to stay out of it. He doesn’t want it on his hands.”
Windhorst admitted that perhaps James hurts coaches once they’re in place by killing them “with 1,000 paper cuts,” but he also said James will not say to Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka that Pelinka should hire a certain candidate.
The context of this whole comment was the possibility of L.A. hiring JJ Redick, James’ partner on his new “Mind the Game” podcast. Redick has no coaching experience at all at either the NBA or college level. While he has a sharp basketball mind that he honed during his playing career, he likely isn’t the right choice for a Lakers team that will probably be in win-now mode next season.
If the Lakers were to hire Redick, it would likely appear as if they hired one of James’ friends in order to appease James.
