As the most prestigious and well-known basketball team on the face of the earth, the Los Angeles Lakers are typically an organization that attracts the very best.
So, in the aftermath of Frank Vogel’s firing, one would expect potential candidates to jump at the chance to coach the Purple and Gold next season.
While there are undoubtedly a few names who could be interested, Celtics President Brad Stevens (who coached Boston for years) isn’t one of them.
In fact, he doesn’t even consider the thought alluring.
“No. Not entertaining,” Stevens said. “First of all, I have no idea what my future holds. I’m in one of those positions where someone decides to move on from me and this is the world we live in. I’m definitely not leaving to go to the Lakers. I know that for a fact.”
“I have not been a person they will reach out to anyway,” Stevens said. “They’ve got a lot of good candidates. They have a lot of better candidates than me I’m sure.”
Of course, Stevens is in a pretty good situation in Boston. Since running the team, they have made a lot of great strides and finished this season as the 2nd seed in the East.
It’s really no wonder why he doesn’t want the Lakers job.
“How about the fact that I lived in Boston for nine years and everything in my closet is green with Boston Celtic gear,” Stevens said. “My whole existence is around trying to help this team be as good as it can be. Let’s keep it that way.”
Still, the Purple and Gold haven’t done themselves any favors with how they handled the Vogel firing. It was just minutes after the final game when Adrian Wojnarowski reported his release, and it raised a lot of eyebrows. Jazz coach Quin Snyder apparently even lost interest in the position after what happened with Vogel.
Needless to say, it will be a long and thorough process for the Lakers. With the clock ticking on LeBron James, they can’t afford to bring in the wrong guy. Not now.
