After announcing that the Los Angeles Lakers have officially fired Frank Vogel on Monday after a disappointing 2019-20 season, the organization will now conduct a coaching search to find their new head man.
Among the candidates that have already surfaced are names with past or current experience like Nick Nurse, Quin Snyder, Doc Rivers and Juwan Howard, and well as top NBA assistants like Darwin Ham
Rob Pelinka stated during exit interviews on Monday that the search will be long and thorough with them not playing a timeline on when a candidate needs to be hired.
One important aspect of who the Lakers hire will be their relationship with LeBron James. As James gets set to embark on his 20th NBA season, there’s no doubt the Lakers will consult with him on who he wants to play for.
It appears there already may be an answer to that question, as Sam Amick of The Athletic is reporting that he’s open to the idea of former Golden State Warriors head coach and current ESPN analyst Mark Jackson:
And here’s a tidbit to monitor as the Lakers conduct their latest coaching search: Sources say James would be very enthused by the prospect of Mark Jackson landing the job. But as history tells us, that doesn’t mean it will actually happen.
Just because James wants him doesn’t mean the Lakers will hire Jackson, although his name can now be thrown into the mix along with the other candidates.
Snyder not as interested in Lakers job after Vogel firing
Despite the Lakers still having one of the biggest brands in all of sports, finding a coach may be more difficult this time around than ever before.
As unfortunate as it is, there’s a lot of dysfunction in the Lakers organization and candidates are taking notice. According to a report, Snyder became less interested in taking the Lakers job after seeing how they handled the firing of Vogel.
Teams haven’t exactly been calling Jackson in recent years though, so if he wants to get back in coaching then the Lakers may be his best option.
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