Brian Windhorst Claiming LeBron James Isn't Involved In Coaching Hires Is Perhaps One Of The Most Outrageous Things Anyone Has Ever Said
Adam Pantozzi. Getty Images.Maybe you've heard, but the Lakers are in the market for a new head coach. Who that ends up being is anyone's guess, since initial names range from JJ Redick to Mike Budenholzer to Kenny Atkinson to some sort of Ty Lue prayer. Since it's the Lakers it will always be an attractive job, despite what the roster looks like, and honestly it might not even matter who they hire unless Rob Pelinka actually makes move to improve their talent.
So while the NBA world discusses who this next head coach is going to be, I couldn't help but hear Windy's take. It was then that I heard perhaps one of the greatest spinzone/lies ever told on Al Gore's internet
Is Windy trying to get back in the LeBron inner circle? I mean he said that with a straight face!
"LeBron doesn't get involved in coaching hires"
"He's always taken a distance"
"He wants to stay out of it"
Listen, maybe I'm wrong here, but I feel like there is no way a franchise makes any sort of organizational decision without getting LeBron's thoughts on it. If he wanted Darvin Ham to be the coach, Darvin Ham would be the coach. If he wants the Lakers to draft Bronny, Bronny will be a Laker. So while he technically may not be going to Rob Pelinka and saying "Hire JJ Redick", you don't think he's going to be consulted? Windy is having us believe that he stays away from the process entirely?
No chance in hell.
Forget the fact that something like this is easily one of the biggest lies Windy has ever told, it's also bad business for the Lakers to not consult the most important player on their team, a guy who just so happens to currently have a $51M player option this summer, about who the next coach should be. If the Lakers hire someone LeBron doesn't want to play for, what's stopping him from opting out and leaving for nothing? I'm pretty sure he's going to be able to find a 2+1 for $50M a year on the open market this summer, so why even risk it?
Whether you think it's right or not, in the NBA in 2024, the franchise building blocks have all the power. Considering we live in a world where you have star players on max deals still demanding trades despite having 3+ years left on their current deal, certain players have their teams by the balls. The benefit is you get a blue-chip talent on your roster, the downside is that guy now basically runs your franchise, especially when that player is LeBron James. Free agent signings, coaching hires/fires, trades, I can't imagine these are things that LeBron James of all people has no involvement in. When has that ever been the case?So while I appreciate what Windy is doing here, a little pre-hire damage control to plant the early seed that it's actually not LeBron's fault if it doesn't work out, there's no way a single person who heard that clip believes that bullshit.
Good job good effort I guess, but this isn't our first rodeo with a LeBron James led team who finds themselves in the market for a new head coach. We know how this goes, no matter how much Windy tries to deny it.