It's time for the Lakers to make a decision, and the Los Angeles Lakers are currently looking for a new head coach who has terminated Darvin Ham's experiment since ending their second straight playoff loss to the Denver Nuggets.
Ham's tenure with the Lakers can be summed up as an up-and-down, leading the team to the Western Conference Finals in his first year, but also putting out some puzzling rosters and seemingly dislike calling a timeout to stop the momentum of other teams.
In fact, not only was Ham fired, but other members of the Lakers' coaching staff were fired, including assistant coach Phil Handy, who won multiple championships with LeBron James and earned a reputation as a fan and player during his tenure with the Lakers.
Truth be told, it's time for the Lakers to give a new look, and the coaching staff seems to be the scapegoat.
All of this begs the question of who the Lakers will be the next coach to lead them on the court, and the people in sports odds have some ideas.
Currently, podcast host JJ Reddick is seen as the favourite to get the position at +150 odds.
He is followed by current Los Angeles Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue — who has one year left on his contract — at +250.
This was followed by a slew of other names, including former Milwaukee Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer and Budenholzer's protégé Kenny Atkinson.
To be honest, Redick can now beat Tyronn Lue to become a popular candidate, which is good news for the Lakers, indicating that the Lakers have a clear goal in selecting a coach, rather than no goal and still confused.
To make things even more interesting, James and Redick recently launched their "Think Game" podcast, in which they analyze the actual tactical elements of the game, rather than being littered with clichés like the usual national media NBA topics.
I believe that after Redick became the head coach of the Lakers, James didn't dare to say that the coach was bad, after all, Redick was not so easy to bully, Redick understands the media, and anything can be said.
How much of the Lakers' problems are coach-related?
While the Lakers may not have a championship-caliber roster in their locker room, Darvin Ham and his staff are clearly not using their full exploited talents.
It's puzzling that Ham spent most of the season finally returning to the starting lineup that the team used to propel himself to the Western Conference Finals, while Austin Reaves and Hachimura sat on the Lakers' bench this year for no apparent reason.
One can imagine how much of a role this inconsistency and lack of coaching trust played in the relative woes of the pair in the game's loss to the Nuggets.
Ham also has a habit of stopping other teams' offense without calling a timeout, which is one of the most basic elements of an NBA coach.
Nowhere was this more evident than in Game 2 of the Lakers' game against the Nuggets, where Ham ignored the Nuggets' momentum and saw the Lakers' 20-point lead in the first half eroded.
At present, it seems that Redick will definitely not follow the old path of Ham, and if he really coaches the Lakers, he will definitely be at a higher level.
Regardless, the next person to coach the Lakers will face tremendous media attention and natural pressure from LeBron James, the smartest player in coaching history, good luck.