This feels familiar. Oh yeah, because this happened oh so very recently. Like deja vu of the worst kind, if you’re a Lakers fan. With the news that UCONN head coach Dan Hurley has spurned the Lakers 6 year, $80 mil offer to stay in the NCAA the Lakers are, once again, forced to pivot from their very public first choice. Coach Hurley now joins the illustrious (and infamous) list of Tyronn Lue, Monty Williams, I honestly don’t recall the other 2 candidates in front of Vogel before we settled on Frank, and Juwan Howard as using the Lakers for leverage or looking at the behind the scenes chaos and feeblemindedness and thinking the job was better off in somebody else’s hands. There is no way to spin this well, this is a bad look for LA.
- Rob Can’t Close. This is the 3rd coaching search in a row where the #1 candidate has said no and the second when the coach chose to stay at the NCAA level. Numerous reports prior to the Ham announcement reveal that Darvin Ham was not the actual first choice but rather Juwan Howard. Rob seems to have a problem closing the deal and this magnified for no reason whatsoever by the leaks of information coming from within the Lakers organization when they decide on a choice before getting them to sign on the dotted line. This, above all behaviors, serves absolutely no purpose. It just makes everyone in the front office and ownership look like foolish, amateur morons.
- There is no plan, just constant, childish reactions followed by the carbon copy press conference for the poor sap who ends up with the job. Just for funsies I went back and watched some highlights from the Vogel and Ham introductory news conferences. Incredibly there is only a small amount of variance. Words like “first choice” and “we believe strongly” are used in a manner akin to a 12 year old writing a book report from passages in the encyclopedia without really being able to understand the task at hand. This is getting ridiculous now. If Jeannie could step away and see this from afar she would see that firing Rob is the only smart move at this juncture, the man is highly incompetent.
- What does this mean for LeBron? Honestly, who cares. At this point he’s staying or retiring and that’s not for any reason other than we need him as much as he needs us. No other contender has the $$$ to pay him what he feels is deserved (which, in my opinion, is valid) and the Lakers need him to stay relevant. No offense to AD but he’s just not “that guy” the fans want to love, the media wants to talk to and he’s not breaking/setting long-held records every other game.
- What does this mean for AD? To me this is the most pertinent question of all. Feels like we just lost the guy who understood development and spacing at an instinctual level. With LeBron trending out of his career at some point the onus of leading the Lakers will fall onto AD’s shoulders, if for no other reason that he’d be the highest paid player at that point. He certainly has never felt qualified to be “the man” on any NBA team. AD is a rock solid post player who can get hot from the outside but is best utilized in the paint. He’s at his best when he’s rebounding on the offensive end or finishing plays after the defense has been collapsed. While we’re likely to never know how Coach Hurley envisioned using him it stands to reason that the next man up in our coaching search will hopefully make that question their priority.
- Who’s the next best candidate? For my money I am now hoping we choose Borrego who has interviewed twice and, I believe, was the front runner despite all the J.J. Reddick smoke. We’ll see, he’s also rumored to be in the running for the Cavs job and they’re just as ready to compete for a title as we are, maybe more so if they can lock in Spyda for 3-4 seasons. If/when that falls through either due to the Lakers incompetence or…well, there really isn’t another reason at this point. The Lakers just don’t seem to get it. They function as if it’s 1989 and Kurt’s playing beach volleyball with Linda and Jeannie like a Tab advert. Wake. Up.
Some of my favorite Rob quotes on his recent and multiple coaching hires, let’s see how many he regurgitates at his next presser when we announce Coach X!!!
General Manager Rob Pelinka on Darvin Ham:“When someone begins his NBA coaching career at the G League level and goes all the way through playing an integral role on the front bench of an NBA Championship team, it really speaks to a certain strength of character. Our players and fans will immediately identify with Darvin’s no-nonsense and hard-working approach, which we feel will bring toughness and a competitive edge to all we do,” said Pelinka. “When you add that to Darvin’s sophisticated grasp of in-game strategy and deep knowledge of the game of basketball, we have the ideal coach for this next chapter in Lakers history. We could not be more honored and proud to name Darvin Ham as our new head coach.”
Also: “This is an incredibly bright and promising day in Lakers history,”
Lastly: Rob Pelinka described Darvin Ham as “the ideal fit” for what the Lakers are looking for in a coach. Noted how Ham “earned his stripes” by starting out as a coach and GM at the G League level.
On Frank Vogel and all the “negative perceptions” out there: “I think that all we can do is do the work. And that’s what we’re going to stay committed to, is just doing excellent work. And I think if people take a look at where this franchise is, right now, we have a great coach. Again, we have a high draft pick, we have a great young core, maybe one of the best in the league. We have a superstar on our team and an open slot. So I think that people can look at this as an opportunity to come and win a championship possibly next year. And we’ve got to do the work.”
Also: “We all know in sports when you’re winning, great things are said. When a team loses, the naysayers and negativity comes out,” Pelinka said. “That’s just the nature of the business. Right now we’re coming off a season where we lost. Again, we’re not going to be caught up in the polls of public opinion or media polls. We’re going to keep our focus on doing good work and getting to a place where we win.”
Lastly: “I think the most important thing is that players look to who we really are and not what the impression is of what others are trying to create us to be. I think all of us know when we come to work every day that there is stability and strength and togetherness here.
“I think for any of us, we know who we are and ourselves, we know the characteristics and qualities we stand for. And we know as a staff and feel very strongly that if people judge and evaluate us for who we are as an organization and the vision and path we have going forward, we feel there’ll be a very, very strong appeal for the great players to come here.”
What a mind people, what a mind. Captain Teflon I sincerely and ardently hope this is the last coach you ever hire. Love, Jamie.
All the focus on the size of the contract maybe miss guided. The Lakers as you pointed out have been a mess. They just aren’t a well run organization. I’m sure Hurley understands that.