After the Los Angeles Lakers were predictably knocked out of the NBA playoffs by the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets earlier this week, the clock began ticking on the decision process regarding whether the storied franchise was going to bring back head coach Darvin Ham.
Although there have been quite a few conflicting reports about Ham’s future with the Lakers, the team made it official on Friday that they have indeed parted ways with the second-year head coach and will begin their search for a new leader on the sideline.
Over the past few weeks, a number of coaching candidates have been linked to the Lakers in the event the team parted ways with Ham, with JJ Redick and Tyronn Lue being among the most notable.
According to Shams Charania and Jovan Buha of The Athletic, four candidates have been named as potential suitors for the coaching vacancy in Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles Lakers have parted ways with coach Darvin Ham, and sources tell me and @jovanbuha an extensive search will commence soon, with candidates such as Mike Budenholzer, Kenny Atkinson, JJ Redick and, if he becomes available, Ty Lue among others.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 3, 2024
So as of right now, Redick, Lue, Mike Budenholzer, and Kenny Atkinson are among the candidates to be Ham’s successor in Los Angeles.
As the process moves forward, there’s bound to be other names that emerge unless the team is set on one of these four names mentioned by Charania.
With the Lakers wanting to convince LeBron James to stay in Los Angeles, it would be safe to assume he’ll have a say on who will be the next head coach of the team, so the candidates will likely have ties to James.
Redick and Lue both have connections to James, so they might be the favorites moving forward.
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