Again, not because I think it’s a bad hire—but because it seems to be the only option they see.

Some are going to say this hire is an attempt to appease LeBron. I’m not sure I see it that way. I think that by going after Danny Hurley as hard as they did, the Lakers kinda proved that they ARE (or were) looking to make a move that goes beyond LeBron. Very little about Hurley suggests to me that LeBron would want to play for him.

I think the problem the Lakers are running into is that not only is that a risky job for a known commodity coach that wants to be in the league for the next 10-20 years, the Lakers job might be a downright bad career move. Of the seven head coaches the Lakers have had since Phil Jackson, ONE of them has a head coaching position today. Sure, maybe those other coaches got seriously paid for their 1-3 year stint at the Lakers, but then quite often, their careers fell off a cliff. Did they make as much in those 1-3 years as they would have in 5-10+ years at a more stable organization?

I really don’t think the Lakers are trying to appease LeBron. I think they’re suffering the consequences of going on 15 years worth of developing a reputation as a revolving door for head coaches. That might be attractive to coaches looking for their first head coaching gig in the NBA—but it’s far less attractive to proven NBA coaches that are thinking about their next 10 years and doing the math. They have proven to be an organization that is not going to see an Eric Spoelstra type through a down year or two. And although LeBron’s history with coaches doesn’t help that narrative, this culture predates LeBron.

They have turned the job into one that simply isn’t that attractive for coaches that have options. The idea that the Lakers are having to hire/pursue college coaches with no NBA experience, or guys like Redick, who has literally ZERO head coaching experience, should be infuriating to Lakers fans. There is little reason that the Lakers shouldn’t have their choice of good NBA coaches. But they’ve made the Lakers HC coach at best a risky career move, and arguably a downright bad job for coaches looking for anything other than a pay day. It’s utterly horrendous leadership, from the top down.