Report: Lakers Linked to Star Ex-NBA Champ Coach as Top Wild Sleeper Candidate

The Los Angeles Lakers sit outside the playoff picture at the moment and things may not go any better than this. The front office will definitely make some major changes and Frank Vogel may be the first to go. According to several sources, the Lakers have been linked with a champ coach. I guess LeBron James will like this idea because he will have a chance to work with a brilliant coach.

Who will replace Vogel? He led the team to a title in 2020, but some fans want him out. Quin Snyder seems like a good replacement. However, Eric Pincus from Bleacher Report bets on Juwan Howard and Doc Rivers. Yes, Rivers comes as a surprise because he is still part of the Philadelphia 76ers. However, Pincus believe that the team may fire him if the Sixers don’t win a title this season. He is under contract through the 2024-25 season.

Doc Rivers didn’t blame the bench unit for the 76ers' loss to the Pistons.

(via @NBCPhilly) pic.twitter.com/tFqlgf1VXc

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 1, 2022

“There have been some names that I’ve been bandying about,” Pincus noted during a March 29, 2022 episode of the “FnA Podcast.” “I don’t know what happens in Philadelphia, if they fall short again, I’ve heard that there’s some potential that D’Antoni could replace Doc [Rivers] if things really go badly because they’re supposed to win. And if they have a letdown, maybe in the second round or something, maybe there’s a change there. And I could see Doc being the kind of personality that the Lakers would go after.”

Lakers linked to the champ coach after he praised their great work

Rivers knows that the Lakers have great players on the roster. He admits that the Lakers run LA. Simple as that.

“It is a Lakers town. I’m good with that. I have no issues with that,” Rivers said. “They have how many titles that they’ve won here? You know, they claim them all, but they only won a certain amount here. I will say that. That actually bugs me a little bit. … Having said that, that’s generations of loyalty.

“I look at us as, we’re creating our own movement. … We’re not trying to take away shine from the other. We’ve got our own thing going. I never thought we could get our own thing going. That was what I was so frustrated with being here. And now we got our own thing going.”