The Los Angeles Lakers’ search for a new head coach has been somewhat of a mess as it has taken over a month to find a replacement for Darvin Ham. The franchise reportedly heavily pursued UConn’s Dan Hurley over the weekend, only to be turned down by the two-time national title-winning head coach on Monday. Former NBA guard and current ESPN analyst J.J. Redick reportedly remains a top candidate, along with former Charlotte Hornets head coach James Borrego.
The coaching search for the legacy franchise comes at a tricky time as their immediate future is directly tied to LeBron James. The veteran forward has until June 29 to exercise his player option for next season and his decision could hinge on both the coaching hire and if the team selects his son Bronny in the 2024 NBA Draft just a few days prior. James already has a rapport with the aforementioned Redick, considering they both co-host the Mind the Game podcast. However, his candidacy has already been met with criticism due to his lack of coaching experience. Despite reports that James is not involved in the search, his hiring would sure look like James getting directly involved in the search.
So why not just cut out the middleman and make James the head coach? No, seriously. Yes, player coaches have been outlawed in the NBA since the mid-80’s to prevent teams from circumventing the salary cap but c’moooon. It’s LeBron. Throw the rule out just for this occasion.
The Lakers have been in perennial play-in tournament territory since 2020 and things won’t get any easier in a stacked Western Conference with younger, hungrier teams coming to the forefront. This past season was a rare campaign where both James and Anthony Davis were healthy and it resulted in them getting unceremoniously thrown out of the playoffs by Denver for a second straight year. Their supporting cast isn’t enough to defeat the Denver Nuggets, Dallas Mavericks, Minnesota Timberwolves, or Oklahoma City Thunder in a single postseason. There are not many moves they can make that could change that dynamic. All of this is to say that whoever they hire as head coach will most likely be fired in two to three years, which just so happens to be around the time James will call it a career.
So let’s just have James run the show. He is one of the greatest basketball minds in the history of the league with a photogenic memory of everything that takes place on the floor. He’d have a direct feel for how games are going and the adjustments that need to be made unlike Ham, who was often criticized and meme’d for having his hands in his pockets while opposing teams broke off large runs. And hey, he could simply hire Redick as an assistant and potentially set him up as his successor. A win-win!
Player-coaches were a common thing of the NBA before the ABA merger and the most successful example was Bill Russell during the later stage of his career with the Boston Celtics. Hall of Famer Lenny Wilkens launched his long and successful coaching career towards the end of his playing tenure and shortly after he retired from the court, led the Seattle SuperSonics to the 1978-79 NBA title. That same year, Dave Cowens became the final player-coach in NBA history when being tabbed for the job early in the year after Satch Sanders was let go.
With his career winding down, James is racking up as many accolades as he can on his way out the door. So why not add “first player-coach in nearly a half-century” to his resume? Would this experiment end up being a disaster? Most likely yes. But it would be entertaining! And if you’re going to suck up all the oxygen in sports media despite not winning titles, then all we can ask is for you to at least be entertaining. Rob Pelinka, Jeanie Buss, give him the keys.