We can probably put the Juwan Howard to the NBA rumors to rest.
Though there is one franchise that could probably give the Michigan basketball head coach pause (the Miami Heat), the premier program in the NBA came calling, and Howard said no.
According to ESPN’s NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski, the Los Angeles Lakers — which are run by GM Rob Pelinka, the former Wolverine who played with Howard in Ann Arbor — were interested in the Michigan basketball head coach potentially filling its vacancy, however, Howard isn’t even interested in listening to any overtures. Though he has a relationship with Lakers star LeBron James — they played together at Miami, Howard coached him when his playing career was done, and his son, Jett, will be acting in the movie based on James’ career — that wasn’t even enough to get Howard to do the interview.
Per Woj, Howard declined the interview and is staying put in Ann Arbor.
ESPN Sources: Michigan coach Juwan Howard recently declined a Los Angeles Lakers overture on the franchise’s head coaching job. Howard is coaching his two sons — Jace and Jett — in Ann Arbor.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 22, 2022
Again, while this works to Michigan’s favor now, if the Heat ever come calling, that could potentially give Howard pause. But, outside of that job, expect the Wolverines to be able to sit comfortably knowing that they won’t have to worry about the former Fab Five member looking elsewhere.
[listicle id=60524]
[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbzardvge799bm2 player_id=01f5k5y2jb3twsvdg4 image=https://wolverineswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]