The Los Angeles Lakers coach search is underway as the team is finding a replacement for Darvin Ham, whom they fired after two seasons at the helm. However, the Cleveland Cavaliers move to fire J.B. Bickerstaff complicated matters in the search for the next Lakers coach, which already has JJ Redick as the frontrunner.
The Cavaliers' sudden entry in the coaching market will compete head-to-head with the Lakers' coaching search, per Marc Stein, adding that the third team seeking a head coach in the Washington Wizards may elevate their interim coach as permanent head coach.
“It's a sudden [additional] complication for the Lakers, who now do face some potential competition for coaching candidates like [James] Borrego, [Sam] Cassell and Golden State Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson,” said Stein. “The league’s only other current coaching opening is in Washington, where interim coach Brian Keefe is increasingly expected to land the post full-time … and where the rebuilding Wizards are not believed to be pursuing the same sort of candidates.”
Press statement foreshadowed Bickerstaff firing
The Cavaliers fired J.B. Bickerstaff after five seasons with the team and amassed a 170-159 record. The announcement came just days after a second-round exit at the hands of the Boston Celtics.
The language used by the Cavaliers in the press release may have hinted the firing in hindsight, Marc Stein noted.
“It was announced Wednesday that Cavaliers president of basketball operations Koby Altman would speak to the Cleveland media on Friday. That would appear to have been a clear signal, in retrospect, that the Cavaliers were poised to fire coach J.B. Bickerstaff, which officially happened Thursday morning,” Stein said.
Complex Lakers coach search includes hurdle in possible JJ Redick hiring
Marc Stein posed multiple options on the Lakers coach appointment of JJ Redick, a former NBA veteran and current broadcaster and podcaster seen as a frontrunner for the job. The Lakers are carefully considering the next man to take the team's head coach role, especially with the team unofficially seeking advice from legendary former Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski
Stein noted that the 17-time champions may face an issue with ESPN over Redick's obligations, particularly with him working as part of the broadcast panel for this season's NBA Finals in June.
“Would ESPN let Redick go before the Finals are finished if the Lakers indeed choose him over New Orleans' James Borrego and Boston's Sam Cassell? Is the network OK with the Lakers [and Charlotte before them] pursuing Redick as a coach so soon after his February promotion to ESPN's A broadcast team alongside Mike Breen and Doris Burke?” posed Stein.
The Lakers could offer the head coach role to Redick before the playoffs end, but take on the role full-time upon the conclusion of the Finals, Stein said. In 2011, Mark Jackson fulfilled his duty with ESPN before joining the Golden State Warriors after the Dallas Mavericks-Miami Heat series ended.
So far, two basketball pundits have expressed reservations on the potential hiring of Redick as Lakers coach. Kendrick Perkins previously said he was in support of Redick taking the helm, but he would have to “lose the snobby Duke attitude.” Byron Scott noted that the Redick is unprepared to take on the pressures of handling the Lakers coaching job.
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