Candidates for New Lakers’ Coach

The Lakers have officially fired previous coach Byron Scott.

Scott as a head coach had a record of 454-647, however in the playoffs, Scott has a 33-24 record.

He has coached 4 different NBA teams which were the New Jersey Nets, New Orleans Hornets, Cleveland Cavaliers, and recently with the Los Angeles Lakers. Scott has won two eastern conference titles with the Nets.

Scott and the Lakers finished 17-65 which was the 2nd worst record in the NBA.

Some candidates for the Head Coach of the Lakers were Derek Fisher, Ettore Messina, and Luke Walton.

Walton was the choice for the Lakers as they have selected him to become their head coach, because he was a previous Laker and the Lakers could develop something like a family with him. He was always known for his basketball IQ and vision.

The Lakers offered Walton a contract for five years with an annual salary around $5 million and $6 million. Walton accepted the contract.

Walton is 36 years old and his youth can help out their young stars such as D’Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson, and Julius Randle for a long time possibly until they become well experienced. Walton being selected might have been a big surprise to many people. Bill Walton a basketball legend has said “ Who would have ever thought that little Luke Walton would be the head coach of the Lakers?

As far as NBA experience, Walton has won two NBA titles, both with Kobe Bryant and four appearances in the NBA finals.

Ettore Messina has never coached in the NBA, but some would say he is the greatest coach in EuroLeague history. He led teams to a total of 16 championships in the EuroLeague. As far as other facts Messina speaks many different languages including English, Spanish, and Italian fluently.

Os Davis from ESPN had said “ The general rule on a Messina team is a slow tempo, half-court game on both sides of the ball.

Messina favors unselfishness which can be a good thing if you have multiple rising stars and an upcoming top 3 draft pick on your team.

Derek Fisher, although he wasn’t the best candidate because he is still inexperienced as a coach, might have been a good coach for the Lakers. He was a player for them for a really long time playing from 1996-2004 and again in 2007-2012 and since he has played with the organization that can greatly boost the team chemistry.

Fisher is a five time NBA champion and he has scored 10,713 points in his long career.

You would expect a player like Fisher that has been playing for 18 seasons, would be a great head coach because he knows the game of basketball extremely well and they a lot of knowledge as being a previous player.

A lot of Lakers fans said they got rid of Byron Scott because he at times made poor decisions.

An example would be he didn’t start his young players even though he should have because the Lakers weren’t going to be in the playoffs anyways so it didn’t matter who they started.

D’Angelo Russell got in a situation with Nick Young. He was recording Nick Young and his girlfriend breaking up through the phone.

What Russell did is a typical rookie mistake. The next coach the Lakers get should be assertive and not conservative.

One more candidate for the Lakers head coach is Scott Brooks.

Brooks led the Thunder to various playoff experiences and he helped out Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant from young and talented players become stars in the NBA.

As most Laker fans know. They have a lot of young talent, but they still have a few missing pieces.

A good head coach and a good draft pick upcoming for the Lakers can be just what they need.

I’ve ran into a lot of Laker fans and they said that the Lakers should get Buddy Hield in the draft just because he might be the next Kobe Bryant if he puts in the work.

Hield definitely has a great three point shot, but it might be a long shot comparing him to Kobe Bryant one of the greatest to ever do it.

After the NBA playoffs we will see who the Lakers decide to hire as their head coach and who they will choose in the draft.