The Los Angeles Lakers fired head coach Frank Vogel on Monday in a move the entire NBA world saw coming weeks ago. The Purple and Gold began 2021-22 with the second best Vegas odds to win the title behind only the Brooklyn Nets before flaming out spectacularly. The Lakers finished the season at a miserable 33-49, missing the play-in and any chance of making noise in the postseason.
- 5. Mark Jackson
- 4. Phil Handy
- 3. Kenny Atkinson
- 2. Doc Rivers
- 1. Nick Nurse
- The Lakers Must Do Whatever It Takes To Land A Top-Tier Coach
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Sure, the Purple and Gold had their share of problems. LeBron James and Anthony Davis missed significant time with several minor injuries, Kendrick Nunn was sidelined the entire season with a knee issue, and Russell Westbrook refused to transform into an off-ball asset. Still, Frank Vogel’s rotations made next to no sense, and he reportedly lost his superstar’s respect, making his dismissal justified.
The Lakers are undoubtedly a mess. Going beyond their injury woes, Westbrook’s status for next season is up in the air, and over half the roster will enter the offseason as unrestricted free agents. Despite it all, the Purple and Gold are one of the premier organizations in the NBA, and LeBron James and Anthony Davis are among the most talented duos in the association.
Dozens of head coaches would be thrilled to become the Lakers’ next head coach, but who’s the most qualified candidate?
Below we’ll rank the top-5 head coaching candidates for the Lakers.
5. Mark Jackson
Mark Jackson’s head coaching career was brief but impressive. He inherited a Golden State Warriors team in 2011 that had recorded a 36-46 record during the previous season behind a team defense that ranked 26th in the league. The Warriors predictably struggled during Jackson’s first year as he implemented a new system and struggled to break his players out of their bad defensive habits.
During Jackson’s second season in Northern California, his effect on the Warriors was pronounced. Power forward David Lee, a player known as an offense-first athlete, began to play solid team D and Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson increased their effort on the less fun end in the backcourt. Golden State finished the regular season with a 47-35 record and a top-15 defense. They beat the Denver Nuggets in the First Round before losing to the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Semifinals. However, they put the NBA on notice that they were for real and coming.
In 2013-14, Mark Jackson guided the Warriors to a 51-31 record, and the 4th ranked defense in the league before the Clippers dispatched them in the First Round, 4-3. Jackson was fired during the 2014 offseason in a move that was more about his personality clashes with owner Joe Lacob than his success on the court.
Jackson proved he was an excellent coach throughout his three years with the Warriors, a leader capable of creating a two-way system based on pressure defense and ball movement. Plus, per HoopsHype, LeBron James believes in Mark Jackson’s coaching ability.
After his time with Golden State, Mark Jackson moved into the broadcasting booth and has called games ever since. He’s given no indication he’s interested in manning the sidelines again, but he’d be a solid choice for a reeling Lakers squad.
4. Phil Handy
Phil Handy began his NBA career in 2011 as the Lakers development coach before joining Mike Brown in Cleveland in 2013 as an assistant coach. Handy stayed with the Cavs for six seasons and then headed to the Raptors in 2018 as an assistant under Nick Nurse. Phil Handy spent one year in Toronto and shifted out west to work under Frank Vogel as a Lakers assistant coach from 2019 through this season.
Phil Handy has won three of the last six NBA championships (Cavs, Raptors, Lakers) as an assistant coach, giving him an excess of playoff experience. He has also made a name for himself among NBA circles as the premier developmental coach in the association, directly responsible for Alex Caruso, Kyle Kuzma, and Austin Reaves’s two-way progress.
Phil Handy famously got into a shouting match with LeBron James at the beginning of January during a Lakers game with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Most people saw Handy and LeBron’s “disagreement” as just another bizarre moment in a year full of negativity for LA’s premier team, but that undersells their interaction. Handy is one of the few people (the list doesn’t include Frank Vogel) with the gumption to yell at LeBron James, and not only did he step up to the GOAT, but he also did it on live TV. The Lakers need a coach who isn’t intimidated by LBJ or AD. They need a man who knows his place as the leader of the glitziest franchise in the NBA. Hardy could be that person.
Phil Handy has no head coaching experience, but he’s been a part of three separate title winners, and he’s proven he won’t back down from anyone. If the Lakers don’t ink him, he could land as another squad’s head coach as soon as this summer.
3. Kenny Atkinson
Kenny Atkinson started his coaching career with the Atlanta Hawks as an assistant from 2008 through 2016. Atkinson worked under two-time Coach of the Year Mike Budenholzer in Atlanta, making a name for himself as an intense, hardworking, developmental phenom who garnered the respect of his Hawks players. Atlanta big man Al Horford spoke about Atkinson in 2015 per ESPN,
“He believes you can improve as a player, even at the highest level, and that there’s always something you can add to your game. … Before he got here, I was pretty much a shooter on the pick-and-pop. I was never really driving. Kenny has challenged me to put the ball on the floor. It’s something we’ve worked on together, and now it’s something I feel comfortable doing.”
The Brooklyn Nets hired Kenny Atkinson as their head coach in 2016. He helped turn around a Nets franchise, staggering from their Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Jason Terry trade in 2013 that saw them ship five young and talented players along with three first-round picks to the Celtics in one of the poorest moves of the decade. Atkinson inherited a Nets team devoid of superstar talent and led them to a 42-40 record and a playoff berth in his third year as head coach. The Nets inked Kyrie Irving in 2019, and he chafed at Kenny Atkinson’s intense coaching style, which led Brooklyn management to fire him towards the end of the season.
Kenny Atkinson joined the Clippers in 2020, working as an assistant under Ty Lue, and this season he’s a member of Steve Kerr’s coaching staff in Golden State.
Kenny Atkinson has worked under some of the leading head coaches in the NBA, and he’s shown he can guide a team lacking depth to the postseason. Atkinson could be the perfect coach to take over for a Lakers squad that will almost certainly be stocked full of minimum contract players next season.
2. Doc Rivers
Doc Rivers is the most famous and well-traveled coach on our list. He retired as a player in 1996 and was hired three years later at 38-years-old as the Orlando Magic head coach. Rivers directed an Orlando squad led by Darrell Armstrong and Ron Mercer, predicted to finish last in the Eastern Conference, to a 41-41 record, barely missing the postseason. Rivers was named Coach of the Year after his rookie campaign, and he ushered the Magic to three consecutive winning seasons from 2000-01 through 2002-03 before he began his fifth year in Orlando with a 1-10 record and was fired.
Doc Rivers went to Boston the following year as the Celtics’ head coach, where he stayed for nine seasons, winning one title in 2008. Prior to the 2013-14 season, the Celtics made one of the most bizarre trades in league history, trading Rivers, their head coach, to the Clippers for a first-round pick. Doc Rivers was LA’s coach for seven winning seasons, but he never managed to take them to the promised land. Doc Rivers moved on to Philadelphia as the 76ers current head coach.
The 76ers enter the 2022 postseason as the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference, a First Round matchup with the surging Raptors looming. Philadelphia could put together a solid playoff run behind their All-Star duo, Joel Embiid and James Harden, crashing into the Finals, all but ensuring Doc Rivers stays beyond this season. But if James Harden’s offensive struggles continue and the 76ers bow out early from the postseason, Rivers could look for a change.
The Lakers would love to land Rivers, a championship head coach who led a star-studded Celtics squad to the promised land behind his ‘Ubuntu, I am because we are’ mantra. Rivers would be an ideal coach for the Purple and Gold, a man who’d command the respect of LBJ and AD while also squeezing productivity out of his role players.
1. Nick Nurse
Nick Nurse might not be the most famous head coach in the NBA, but he could be the best. He steered the Raptors to the title during his first year as a head coach in 2019. The following season, superstar and Finals MVP, Kawhi Leonard, left Toronto for the Clippers, and the Raptors didn’t miss a beat, finishing the season 53-19 as Nurse won the Coach of the Year Award.
This season, the Raptors are 48-34, 13 games ahead of their projected win total despite losing their starting point guard, Kyle Lowry, and not having a player over 6-9 on their roster. Nick Nurse has given his Raptors squad an identity as a long and athletic team that focuses on diving into the opposing team’s passing lanes, creating havoc on defense. They also crash the offensive glass during a time when nearly every other organization focuses on getting back after a miss to stifle easy attempts in transition.
Here’s a breakdown of Nick Nurse’s Toronto Raptors:
The Raptors are 1st in the NBA in deflections at 17.6 per game.
The Raptors are 2nd in the association in steals with 9.0 per contest.
Toronto is 2nd in the league in offensive rebounding percentage at 32.5%.
Nick Nurse is an established winner who has proven capable of adapting to whatever type of roster he’s handed. He has also proven capable of creating schemes that lead to victory, a trait only a handful of NBA head coaches possess. He’ll be able to take whatever players the Lakers assemble over the offseason, hit the lab, and devise the appropriate system for his roster.
Nick Nurse is the Lakers’ top coaching candidate, and it isn’t particularly close.
The Lakers Must Do Whatever It Takes To Land A Top-Tier Coach
Mark Jackson, Phil Handy, and Kenny Atkinson have found their fair share of success in the NBA. They could lead the Lakers to the top of the mountain next season. Still, all three coaches are clearly Plan C for the Lakers.
Doc Rivers is the second best option for the Lakers. He is an established winner with the experience to command the Lakers locker-room. Nick Nurse has only been a head coach for four seasons. However, he’s shown that he’s one of the finest basketball minds in the association, and Lakers management should do whatever it takes to convince him to come to Hollywood.
