The Los Angeles Lakers are in need of a new head coach now that they’ve parted ways with Frank Vogel. ESPN’s Max Kellerman thinks they already have the perfect candidate in-house: LeBron James.
On Tuesday morning, a caller to the Keyshawn, JWill, and Max show suggested that James should be the next coach of the franchise since he already reportedly has a lot of control behind the scenes and is involved in transactions. Kellerman immediately agreed with the suggestion, much to the chagrin of co-hosts Keyshawn Johnson and Jay Williams.
“I actually like that idea,” said Kellerman. “I like the idea. It eliminates a big problem for the Lakers. You could have a player-coach, why not?”
While his co-hosts sat there exasperated, Kellerman was asked what will happen when LeBron doesn’t want to talk to the media after the game?
“That’s all part of the package,” said Kellerman.
Williams chimed in to say that this isn’t the days of Bill Russell and you would never want a situation where James has “that much autonomy.”
“You know what I want him to have?” responded Kellerman. “I want him to have that much accountability.”
When Williams said that if he were LeBron he would never want to be a player-coach, Kellerman agreed and explained this would be more about proving to James that if he wants control of the franchise he should have to be accountable for it.
“To me, it makes LeBron so accountable,” said Kellerman. “LeBron, you’re the greatest basketball genius in the world. I don’t say that facetiously. I mean it, he’s like a basketball genius, right? You’re gonna call the shots anyway, give him the responsibility and make him own it.
“If I were LeBron, I wouldn’t do it. But I would offer it to him.”
When pushed on the fact that letting LeBron coach the Lakers would be a “trainwreck,” Kellerman figured it’s not like it can get much worse for the franchise.
“How much worse is it gonna be?” asked Kellerman. “It’s a trainwreck now. How much worse is it gonna be? You’re 16 games under .500! Like, how much worse could it be?”
“17,” Keyshawn astutely pointed out.
[ESPN]
