By Jordan Long
The L.A. Lakers stand at 31-40, 10.5 games from the 8th and final playoff spot in the West. This is not how the Lakers envisioned the year. They signed LeBron James in the offseason, hoping he was going to guide them to at least the 8th seed if not better. That hasn’t happened. For the poor season, there is speculation the Lakers are going to move on from Head Coach Luke Walton.
Walton is in his 3rd season with the Lakers and it is his first head coaching job in the NBA. The Lakers haven’t been a playoff team under him and he has struggled to coach them. The Lakers are an unimpressive 92-143, or a winning percentage of .391 under him. With that it will be time to let Walton go once the season is over.
It hasn’t been all Walton’s fault. General Manager Rob Pelinka is responsible for personnel moves and trying to make this team better. It hasn’t worked. The athletes he has agreed to contracts with haven’t panned out and makes it tough for Walton to coach. Pelinka should also be fired after the dismal year the Lakers are going through.
If the Lakers decide to fire Walton, they will be searching for a new Head Coach. There is one person that has been linked to the job, Clippers’ Coach Doc Rivers. Rivers is a friend of Lakers’ President of Basketball Operations Magic Johnson. He would be an upgrade.
The only problem is Rivers says he is not interested in the job. According to ESPN.com, Rivers said, “Well, I have a job and the Lakers have a coach, No. 1, and I am going nowhere. I can tell you that. Straight and up front, I’m going to be here until [Clippers owner] Steve [Ballmer] says get out. I plan on being here a long time.”
For Rivers, the Clippers job is better than the Lakers. The Clippers are building a playoff and championship contending team. They have been to the playoffs 4 times in Rivers’ 6 seasons. The Clippers are in a battle to make it as the 8th seed this season. They lead the Sacramento Kings by 7 games for the last playoff spot in the West.
The Lakers’ front office is going to have to start a coaching search if they terminate Walton. The Lakers could look in college or at assistant coaches throughout the NBA for their next coach. They are going to hope their next hire will help this team win and bring an NBA Championship back to the City of Angels.
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