The recent job search and having their offer rejected by Dan Hurley confused the entire sports world. Why would a collegiate coach reject the coveted Lakers coaching job? Maybe, because the Laker’s job isn’t what it used to be. The Los Angeles-based team has been a dumpster fire for years. From drafting Lonzo Ball over Jayson Tatum to being mediocre at best, even with signing Lebron James.
Everyone knew James was going to sign with them, it wasn’t like there was some type of sweepstakes to get him. It was purely a decision for him and his family. Since his signing, it’s been average at best for the Lakers besides the COVID championship in 2020. Averaging around 43 wins a season roughly is terrible. Three out of the last four years they were the 7th place team in the Western Conference. That other year they were 11th in conference play.
The organization is run like a mom-and-pop shop. The Buss family puts people in a position of employment that shouldn’t be there. They’re like the Dallas Cowboys but worse. At least Jerry Jones can draft players and not fire-sell the whole team to bring in an injury-riddled Anthony Davis. Davis was supposed to come in and be James’ successor to the team, which never happened. Nobody wants to say the quiet part out loud and just admit that as of right now the Los Angeles Lakers are the Sacramento Kings of L.A.
While their rival on the East Coast just won its 18th NBA championship, the Lakers are in organizational hell. The rumors that the Lakers would try to draft Bronny to keep Lebron on the team is an exact testament to what I’m saying to be true. Now there are talks of Monty Williams coming to LA for the head coaching job after having to leave Detroit and going through all that. On top of that having 65 million left on his deal, he might want to take the year off and see what offers come up next year.
It has been confirmed that the Lakers have hired J.J. Reddick since I left work yesterday, this hire does make sense to some degree. Reddick has been a player and knows the game at the professional level. There have even been players who transitioned to coaching that have seen success. The Dallas Mavericks is the perfect example as Jason Kidd took the team to the Championship game, even though they lost. The question moving forward for him is whether the players, especially Lebron, will listen to his messaging. If Bronny gets drafted elsewhere, will Lebron follow him and how much control will the Lakers have over Reddick’s decision-making?
