The Los Angeles Lakers fired Darvin Ham on May 3 after he had been their head coach for two seasons, and their search for a new head coach has gradually picked up in recent days.
Last week, they received permission to interview several candidates who are assistant coaches with other teams. Those candidates include James Borrego, Sam Cassell, David Adelman and Micah Nori.
According to a report in The Athletic on Tuesday, Los Angeles has completed interviews with Borrego and Cassell, as well as former NBA sharpshooter JJ Redick.
Via The Athletic:
“The Los Angeles Lakers have begun interviewing candidates for their next coach, according to league sources not authorized to speak publicly on the matter,” wrote Jovan Buha and Shams Charania.
“The Lakers have held formal meetings with JJ Redick, New Orleans Pelicans associate head coach James Borrego and Boston Celtics assistant coach Sam Cassell over the past several days, according to those sources.”
The team will also interview a few other assistants soon.
“Team officials plan to meet with Denver Nuggets assistant coach David Adelman, Minnesota Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori and Miami Heat assistant Chris Quinn as they do their due diligence on the candidate pool.”
Borrego is an interesting assistant. He has an existing relationship with Anthony Davis forged when Borrego was an assistant coach with the New Orleans Pelicans.
"I'm told LeBron James is not involved in the Lakers head coaching search…James has made it clear that this is the organization's decision, he's had no conversions with the Lakers about JJ Redick."@ShamsCharania on the #Lakers coaching search pic.twitter.com/4YbscRYII7
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) May 20, 2024
“I think when you’re the Lakers, you have to look into the future,” said Charania. “Anthony Davis is someone that’s gonna outlast likely LeBron James as a Laker, he’s 31 years old in the prime of his career, and how do you make a hire that potentially does fit AD better, involving him in the coaching search process? And he has built a rapport with James Borrego, they overlapped a little bit in New Orleans.”
Meanwhile, Redick is the one Lakers candidate who has everyone talking. While he has a sharp mind for the game of basketball, he has no coaching experience of any kind at either the pro or college level.
The perception, whether it is true or false, is he’s a leading candidate because of his friendship with James. The two co-host the “Mind the Game” podcast, and Redick is also a member of ESPN’s NBA broadcast crew.