Los Angeles Lakers Reportedly Giving Up on Hiring Ty Lue or Jason Kidd as Head Coach – Here’s Why

In his first year coaching the team, the Lakers were able to reach the Western Conference Finals with a roster headlined by James and Anthony Davis . Unfortunately, they fell to the Denver Nuggets on their way to win the championship last year.

This year, though, there was an expectation that Ham can continue their momentum and dominate the Western Conference. However, after the In-Season Tournament, the Lakers faltered and fell in the standings until they obtained a playoff spot via the Play-In Tournament. From there, they were eliminated once again by the Nikola Jokic-led Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs this year.

Los Angeles Lakers Giving Up on Pursuing Ty Lue or Jason Kidd to Replace Darvin Ham

With their season done, some of the blame was placed on Ham’s head for their early playoff exit. According to an article written by Marc Stein for Real GM:

“Reports are that the Lakers have no expectations that Lue or Kidd will be available for hire. It’s been rumored that Kidd will sign an extension with the Dallas Mavericks, following the team advancing to second round of the playoffs.

The LA Clippers have made it known that they intend to do whatever it takes to keep Lue on their sideline. For his part, Lue has said he prefers to stay with the Clippers and has no interest in jumping to a new team,” Real GM posted.

Now that Kidd and Lue are off the list, only JJ Reddick remains as the high-profile name available to Los Angeles. The thing is, this will be the first coaching gig for the former NBA sharpshooter if an offer is extended to him.

Whether Reddick accepts the job or not, the Lakers will have a busy offseason ahead of them. With James’ player option in the conversation, the front office has to resolve a lot of needs before the upcoming season starts.