Is LaVar Ball now about to speak a head coaching move into existence?
In an appearance Friday on “The Rich Eisen Show,” ESPN’s Brian Windhorst dropped a bit of a bombshell about the LA Lakers and coach Luke Walton.
“Whatever you want to say about LaVar Ball, he has smoked out the fact that the Lakers do not support Luke Walton,” said Windhorst, according to Ryne Nelson of SLAMOnline. “And that is now crystal clear. And there are now guys out there wondering openly to me — executives, coaches, agents — who the Lakers are going to hire as their next coach. Because that has been revealed here –that they do not have unconditional support for Luke.
“What coach has LeBron [James] tweeted about most recently? What coach got fired this year and LeBron tweeted about it?” Windhorst continued when pressed on who the Lakers might hire if they were to fire Walton. “Los Angeles native David Fizdale … I got executives in my ear, I got agents in my ear, saying, ‘Oh yeah, they’re probably going to hire David Fizdale.'”
Since Ball went viral earlier this month with his controversial comments about Walton supposedly losing control of the team, the Lakers, both players and management, have indicated that the second-year coach still has their full support. But they remain a rotten 14-27 on the year, and questions about the 37-year-old’s Walton’s fit for this team at this point in time still persist.
It’s worth noting that Fizdale, who was fired by the Memphis Grizzlies earlier this season, coached James, presumably the Lakers’ top free agent target this summer, as an assistant in Miami for many years. Though both he and Walton have roughly the same amount of head coaching experience, Fizdale seems to be the more respected of the two right now. That could leave the Lakers with a decision to make, especially if their struggles under Walton continue.
