The Lakers Are In Search Of Leadership

Since Buss’ passing last year two of his children (Jeanie and Jim) have run the team. But Jeanie and Jim have not always been on the same page which is not good for business. 

After Phil Jackson departed as the Lakers head coach in 2011, the franchise has employed three different head coaches with none of them lasting two full seasons. In 2011, the Lakers were on the verge of acquiring point guard Chris Paul from the New Orleans Hornets until former NBA commissioner David Stern intervened and nullified the trade. In 2012, the Lakers acquired center Dwight Howard from the Orlando Magic. But the Lakers were never able to lock Howard up to a long-term deal. Howard never got along with Bryant and after just one season with the Lakers he left to sign with the Houston Rockets last summer. If Buss were alive and if West was still in the Lakers front office, Howard would have never left Los Angeles because those two men would have simply done what was best for business.

The landscape of the NBA has changed with the current collective bargaining agreement between the players and owners. It is not as easy for the Lakers to swoop in with a big of cash along with the glitz and glamor of Hollywood to get whatever players that they want like they have done in the past. The tighter salary cap also has to make teams a little more cautious when they want to sign a player to a max contract as you cannot afford to make a mistake.

Right now the Lakers organization does not look as appetizing to players as it has in the past. Bryant will be 36-years old in August and he has not played a full NBA season since the 2010-2011 campaign. The Lakers currently do not have a head coach and this is a franchise that has been home to some of the NBA’s marquee coaches including Jackson and Pat Riley. But now the Lakers are so desperate for a head coach that they have their sights on the collegiate ranks as they are interested in the University of Kentucky head basketball coach John Calipari and the University of Connecticut head basketball coach Kevin Ollie. The Lakers are also reportedly interested in current Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau, but is there mutual interest?

Calipari coached the New Jersey Nets from 1996-1999 and compiled a record of 72-112 with one playoff appearance. Calipari just wrapped up his fifth season at Kentucky and he appears to be happy there. Ollie played 13 seasons in the NBA and he is a native of Los Angeles, but he does not have any coaching experience in the NBA. Ollie just finished his second season as the head basketball coach at Connecticut where he led the school to a national championship. Thibodeau just completed his fourth season as the head coach of the Bulls. In each of Thibodeau’s four seasons in Chicago, the Bulls have made the playoffs and he appears to be happy in the Windy City; especially since he is expecting point guard Derrick Rose to return to the lineup next season.

The Lakers finished this past season with the sixth worst record in the NBA and they are hopeful that the ping-pong balls at the NBA Draft Lottery on May 20 will bounce their way as they are looking for a quick turnaround. The Lakers are looking to draft one of the top players available for this June’s NBA Draft that can provide an immediate impact for them as they look to return to the postseason. Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak will have nearly $30 million in salary cap space at his disposal this summer as he will look to use it wisely.

But in spite of the roster moves that Kupchak intends to make this summer, it will come down to who will be the head coach for the Lakers next season and what players will be able to fit into his respective system? The next head coaching hire will be the most important move that Kupchak has ever made as Lakers general manager. In 2012 Kupchak fired Mike Brown as the Lakers head coach after a 1-4 start and in the process he basically wasted a training camp and the preseason. Bernie Bickerstaff was the Lakers head coach for five games before D’Antoni was brought in. In nearly two seasons at the helm with the Lakers, D’Antoni compiled a record of 67-87, but he never had a chance to establish himself with players that fit his system. Because of that the Lakers are once again starting over. The Lakers cannot afford a misstep in their personnel moves this spring and summer due to the fact that they have very quickly become the third banana at the Staples Center behind the Los Angeles Clippers and the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League.

More than ever the Lakers need a leader to takes the reigns and let everyone know how things are going to be. But who will step up to the plate? The Buss’s need to find a way to get on the same page with Kupchak. If they are unable to do that then we can expect to see another futile season in 2014-2015 for the purple and gold.