The Los Angeles Lakers have a big decision to make in terms of who will be the franchise’s next head coach. With LeBron James and Anthony Davis leading the way, the team must figure out the right person to help take the franchise into championship contention.
One person who has an opinion on the more extreme side of things is former Lakers player and head coach Byron Scott. In a recent appearance on Undisputed on Fox Sports 1, Scott suggested that LeBron James himself become the Lakers next head coach:
“My recommendation [for] the next Lakers coach, and out of the eight or nine names that I’ve heard, his name wasn’t on there, is make LeBron the coach. Make LeBron the coach… Listen, I got nothing but love and respect for LeBron, I love him, I think he’s one of the greatest players that ever played this game. But it’s obvious to me at least, that he’s making a lot of decisions that’s going on in this organization from a coaching standpoint to a player standpoint.
“So if you’re going to allow him to make those decisions, alright, sit on the bench and make those decisions as well as be head coach… Some of the names I’ve heard, you obviously have to find someone who LeBron is comfortable with from a head coaching standpoint. The last name I heard was JJ Redick and I started laughing. Well now they got a podcast together, so y’all are comfortable, y’all are buddy buddy, so now his name is on the list? As far as I’m concerned, the only person that he’s going to really trust is himself. Since you’re making a lot of those decisions anyway, why not put him in that seat?”
There is no denying the fact that LeBron has a heavy influence within the Lakers and his word means a lot. James, and Davis for that matter, have to be on board with the coach and the Lakers will undoubtedly rope them in throughout the search process.
In actuality, the NBA no longer allows teams to have a player-coach in order to prevent teams from circumventing salary cap rules, so Scott’s suggestion isn’t possible. But the former Lakers coach would continue on, also noting that if nothing else that coach is needed as a scapegoat if things go wrong:
“You’re probably right because you got to have a scapegoat in that seat as they’ve had in the last four years. You’ve got Frank Vogel, who wins a championship with them and the next year, boom, he’s gone. Darvin Ham, who goes to the Western Conference Finals last year and this year, boom, he’s gone. So what are you looking for? What do you need as a head coach to get this team to the next level? You have two of the best players in the NBA, even at 39 years old LeBron is one of the best players in the NBA. Anthony Davis this year played out of his mind, in my opinion. Played more games than he’s played since he’s been a Laker, was as healthy as can be, played great against Denver, against one of the best players if not the best player in the league in the Joker, held his own. So at the end of the day, to me I’m looking at just make LeBron the coach.”
Even though Scott’s suggestion isn’t feasible, it simply highlights the level of control he feels LeBron has within the Lakers franchise, as he had in his previous stops in his career as well. Maybe if it was possible, James could actually thrive as a player-coach and considering his success in every other facet of basketball, he would probably make a great one.
LeBron James reflects on Lakers’ playoff series loss to Nuggets
The Lakers are currently in need of a head coach following their first-round playoff exit to the Denver Nuggets. It was a hard-fought series and even though the Lakers lost in five games, they were in every single one of them and LeBron James recently reflected on the series as a whole.
On his latest podcast episode, LeBron felt that the Lakers had many opportunities to win games but just made too many mistakes when it mattered. He would add, however, that he felt the better team won in the end.
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