Los Angeles Lakers Interested In Hall Of Famer As Replacement Of Luke Walton

Luke Walton is the current coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. However, as it can sometimes be the case on LeBron James-led teams, Walton’s name might not be linked to Lakers for very much longer. The coach’s future in the team has been speculated all year. He was already on thin ice when he reportedly met with Magic Johnson earlier in the season, and after a disastrous January played mostly without James, Walton’s seat has grown even hotter.

However, the reason why he hasn’t been fired yet was because there didn’t appear to be an obvious replacement in place. Phil Jackson has no intention of arriving on a white horse to save the team and, truth be told, there aren’t any unemployed star coaches. So, firing Walton would mean taking a risk on an underwhelming hire, especially if a recent report on the matter turned out to be true. In the report it has been stated that Jason Kidd appears to be very much in the mix and possibly is even the favorite for the job.

The report goes on to claim that the Lakers have gotten back to Kidd after he initially reached out to express interest in the job, though it is unclear how formal such conversations might have been or what was the context. Walton is still employed by the Lakers, and while it certainly wouldn’t be strange for a team to seek out a replacement before letting go of their current coach, it’s not something Jeanie Buss would seem keen on doing to a former Lakers champion.

Kidd’s previous experience as a head coach wasn’t exactly successful either. He spent one year leading a Brooklyn Nets team with championship aspirations, but only took them to 44 wins. Then, under his leadership Giannis Antetokounmpo never won a playoff series, which changed when Mike Budenholzer took over.

Another thing that might be problematic is the fact that Kidd has had personality clashes with front offices before, and his overly aggressive defensive scheme was widely mocked around the league.

Speculations aside, until Walton gets fired, discussing potential replacements seems pointless. We don’t yet know what the Lakers might be looking for in a new coach or who would be interested in the job. What we do know is that Luke Walton will have a tough job getting this team back on track quickly if he plans to keep his position.