Brian Windhorst Breaks Down The Possibilities For The Next Lakers Head Coach | 5/24/24

Brian Windhorst Breaks Down The Possibilities For The Next Lakers Head Coach | 5/24/24

the uh Cavaliers said goodbye to their head coach and I was wondering what that vacancy does if anything to the time frame of the Lakers if they’re you know going to hire JJ reck or whoever it is are they are they connected at all these these openings well it depends on who the Lakers Top Choice is if the Lakers Top Choice is indeed JJ reck and I don’t know that that it is I think that he’s a strong candidate there their competition finals on ABC because uh you know JJ is calling the finals on ABC and um you know I would think that if he’s hired as the coach of an any team it would be difficult to call the finals and that’s his job right now so that’s an interesting byproduct that we don’t always get um there are other candidates I think you know James morgo is a name that I like I feel like I’m the only one bringing up James vgo is a very accomplished coach who is who got a raw deal when he got F in my opinion had a raw deal when he got fired in Charlotte and is a strong candidate especially for uh a team like Cleveland that needs offensive intervention and I think he’s a strong candidate in LA because if nothing else he’s got a very good relationship as far as I know I think or he’s got a good a relationship with Anthony Davis so um uh but in theory yes they are competing a little bit for the same type of Coach the the Cleveland situation is more tied to Donovan Mitchell um than anything because this move is at least in part related to Donovan Mitchell and uh I think that’ll make the Cavs potentially more aggressive and frankly the Cavs have demonstrated a more willingness to spend than the Lakers so that I don’t know if that’ll be a factor um I don’t know if it’ll come down to a coach deciding between the two but the last time the Lakers were in a bidding war for head coaches they lost them yeah um so I don’t know if that’ll happen but it’s interesting to it’s interesting history to know yeah you bring up the valid point if it’s not normal when you go uh this guy would get the job or they’d announce the job or have you know an introductory press conference you’re the new head coach of the Lakers but JJ reck’s going to be working for the next couple of weeks which may be the holdup and then the stories that come out they’re reporting that LeBron’s not involved why wouldn’t LeBron be in be be involved for maybe the last two years of his career on who’s going to coach him like it it almost seems even more important that he wants to know who’s going to be here and you know how do how do I get along with this guy right so this is one of these things where the only thing I can do as a reporter is ask the consumer for nuance I I can’t guarantee the Nuance in this world of aggregation something that I say in the next two minutes can be taken out taken out and my phone will explode I can just beg you for nuance star players typically as you know Dan I’m not talking talking to you directly I’m talking to your viewers and listeners star players typically do not make yes and no uh um choices on coaches it is unusual not unheard of but unusual for a star player to speak to a team and say I want this individual fired today you know come into the office and pound your fist or I want this player hired star players make their feelings about their coaches known not in one meeting but in six months and the executives who are with the team watch how a star player interacts with his coach for six months okay and so yes I’m sure that there are discussions that happen and there might even be a heads up given uh you know hey we’re thinking about going this direction star players don’t want typically again you can find instances where is not true but typically star players do not want it on their hands that they are picking their coach even if they helped do that over the course of the season so LeBron learned very early in his career he didn’t want to get involved in that and so he is never as far as I know I I think maybe the one time where I think he played more of a direct role was when David blat was fired and tyou was hired but um I I honestly don’t think he played a direct role in hiring of any of the coaches he’s had but then you could say has he influenced the hiring and firing of coaches of course yeah he has so this is the this is the thing it’s not simple to say so when LeBron distances himself from the hiring of JJ re it doesn’t mean that he’s not influencing the hire but he’s not going in there and saying hire him and you know what part of the influencing the hire is you think the Lakers haven’t watched the podcast or listen to the podcast you think they haven’t watched JJ reic uh on and listen to his podcast with other guests and watch how he’s interacted with other players is JJ reck being hired because LeBron said hire him or you know if if he’s hired you know I don’t know if he’s going to be hired if JJ got hired as the coach of the Lakers if if if okay um would it be because of one moment no but would the Lakers be influenced by the many hours that they have watched and listen to his podcast and watch him out players yes so does that mean the players want him as the head coach maybe does that mean they’re going in and saying get me as head coach now no and I I hate to be beating this uh beating this up but I mean I run into this every day during this time and I know as soon as people listen to this they’ll say yeah well LeBron still making the decision and I and I can’t I I could only tell you what I experienced in actually talking to the primary sources here if you choose not to believe that you can do that it’s it’s your choice

ESPN NBA insider Brian Windhorst joins the Dan Patrick Show and breaks down the possibilities for the next Los Angeles Lakers head coach, including JJ Redick, as well as how much influence LeBron James will have on the coaching hire