The Lakers recently narrowed their list of coaching candidates to three finalists—Darvin Ham (Mike Budenholzer’s right-hand man in Milwaukee), former Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts and Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson. The team also conducted interviews with Raptors assistant Adrian Griffin, Bucks staffer Charles Lee and ESPN analyst Mark Jackson.
In the month since the regular season ended, Los Angeles has made suspiciously little progress on the coaching front, making only incremental strides toward replacing Frank Vogel. The deliberate pace of L.A.’s coaching search would suggest the Lakers are waiting for a dark horse to emerge, which may have been Michigan coach Juwan Howard before he declined their interview request. Howard is familiar with LeBron James from their time together in Miami, where they were teammates for three seasons, though the 49-year-old of Fab Five fame remains committed to his alma mater, at least until his sons Jace (a rising junior) and Jett (an incoming freshman) graduate.
However, according to Marc Stein, formerly of ESPN and the New York Times, the Lakers may have their eye on someone else. Stein reports the Lakers haven’t yet “abandoned hope” of Doc Rivers being available this summer, despite Daryl Morey’s insistence he’ll back as the Sixers’ head coach in 2022-23. It’s probably wishful thinking at this point, though Rivers has jumped ship before, leaving the Celtics to join the Clippers under similar circumstances in 2013 (Boston received a 2015 first-rounder as compensation).
Despite his resume, which includes 1,043 career victories (ninth all-time) and an NBA title in 2008, Rivers has struggled to get over the hump in recent years, getting stonewalled in the second round each of his past two seasons. Rivers showed an uncharacteristic desperation this year, lashing out at the media for alluding to his history of playoff collapses while masking his own shortcomings by routinely throwing players under the bus. Fearful of wasting another year of Joel Embiid’s prime, Sixers fans have openly campaigned for Doc’s firing, citing his lack of in-game adjustments and questionable handling of stars like James Harden and Ben Simmons.
Despite rumblings of Morey secretly plotting a reunion with Mike D’Antoni (who coached Harden during his MVP season in 2018), the plan, at least as of now, is for Rivers to return for a third season in Philadelphia. Of course, the offseason is still young, leaving plenty of time for a change of heart if the Lakers come calling.
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