Unlikely ESPN host says Lakers tried to hire him

Either the Los Angeles Lakers are out here playing 8D Parcheesi or they have completely lost their minds.

Speaking Monday on “First Take,” an unlikely ESPN host revealed that the Lakers tried to hire him as an assistant coach for this season — retired ex-NBA big man Kendrick Perkins.

“Who offered me a coaching job this season? The Lakers!” said Perkins. “The Lakers offered me an assistant coaching job. You know why? Because they wanted me to come in and be that guy that could have Frank Vogel’s back but be respected by the guys in the locker room so that he could hold them accountable. Like Udonis Haslem is doing somewhat on the Miami team.”

Perkins didn’t elaborate further on his talks with the Lakers, but that is an interesting and unexpected bombshell. While Perkins was an enforcer type who played for 14 seasons in the league (and was even briefly teammates with LeBron James on the Cleveland Cavaliers), he does not really seem qualified to be an assistant coach.

For one, Perkins has no coaching experience and went straight to ESPN after his playing career ended. Perkins’ situation is also very different than that of Haslem, who is still technically playing and who has been with the Miami Heat for his entire 19-year career. That has given Haslem a certain gravitas within the organization that has been built up over time, not just something that you can bring in willy-nilly over the offseason.

It turns out that the Lakers definitely needed someone to have the back of the now-fired Vogel, whom the players had reportedly tuned out. As for Perkins, you wonder why he waited until the end of the Lakers’ season to make the revelation that they tried to hire him. But at least there is more context now for why Perkins had gotten sick of talking about the Lakers.

H/T NBA Reddit

Photo: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports