The LA Lakers have a tough off-season waiting for them. While they have a mess of a roster to figure out for next season, they also have to figure out a new coach for the team, which should take priority over anything else. The lakers have actively been talking to available options throughout the league, including some seemingly unavailable options like Nick Nurse.
To help with this search for a new coach, the Lakers have openly considered bringing on legendary coach Phil Jackson to help achieve this goal. While Jackson was a feared coach that won 11 titles (6 with Chicago Bulls, 5 with the Lakers). However, his final stint in the NBA with the New York Knicks ended disastrously and Jackson hasn’t had a job in the NBA since.
With the Lakers possibly bringing him back, a player that once lost to a Jackson-led team in the Finals, J.J. Redick went off on the Lakers possibly making that decision.
“The idea that they’re going to bring in Phil Jackson to help with the coaching search, given his record as an executive in New York, and with the hires he made – again it’s a pattern of behavior,” Redick said (h/t Lakers Daily). “It fits in their pattern of behavior. Other teams are not going to fall susceptible to that.”
Signing Phil Jackson in this decade will be a backward move for the Lakers. Phil had a hard time adapting when the league was changing in the 2010s, it’ll be much harder for him to assess what coach would be perfect for them right now.
The Lakers front office has to fix their own mess, not get Jackson to give his thoughts, and then blame it on him if the coaching choice doesn’t work out. This organization has a lot of work to do, but the question remains, will they do it correctly?
