Who may the Lakers want to coach them next? Budenholzer, Lue, and Redick are some of the best choices.
Following their elimination against the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the NBA playoffs on Monday night, the Lakers held a multi-day postmortem of their season.
According to league sources who spoke with The Athletic, members of the Lakers organization, including general manager Rob Pelinka and vice president of basketball operations, conducted departure interviews with players on Wednesday.
The Lakers finally made the decision to change their coaching staff in order to try to make the most of the LeBron James-Anthony Davis partnership’s championship window after reassessing their season and talking with their players.
The Athletic revealed on Monday night that Ham’s employment was in grave danger. Given the Lakers’ eighth-place regular season performance (they received the No. 7 seed through the Play-In tournament) and first-round loss to the same Nuggets club that swept them in the Western Conference finals the previous season, several team and league sources believed he was unlikely to make a comeback.
The Lakers finished 90-74 in the regular season and 9-12 in the postseason during Ham’s two-year leadership.
After serving as an assistant under Mike Brown, Bernie Bickerstaff, and Mike D’Antoni from 2011 to 2013, Ham began his NBA coaching career with the Lakers in May 2022.
He inked a four-year deal worth about $5 million a season, with the team picking up the remaining portion of his contract.
The head coaching post with the Lakers becomes the most sought-after opening on the coaching market right away.
