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LATEST NEWS: What To Know About An Emergence Of The New Coach

Published

5 months ago

July 4, 2024

Whether you love the hire or hate it, J.J. Redick is the Los Angeles Lakers’ new head coach and there’s nothing that can be done about it. The ex-NBA sharpshooter inked a four-year contract with the Lakers last week, meaning he’s tasked with helping LeBron James and Anthony Davis bring another championship to the franchise.

Due to Redick lacking experience behind the bench, the Lakers have been searching hard to assemble the best coaching staff possible. Los Angeles’ question eventually led them to hiring Nate McMillan and Scott Brooks as two of Redick’s assistants, which was confirmed by NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski on Wednesday.

While McMillan and Brooks bring nearly 1,200 combined wins to the table, they weren’t L.A.’s only assistant coach target. In fact, the Lakers struck out on another candidate in the most brutal way.

Lakers Rumors: Los Angeles Strikes Out on Terry Stotts

Former NBA championship-winning assistant Terry Stotts was one of the Lakers’ top coaching targets. Unfortunately, that dream came to an end when he joined the Golden State Warriors’ coaching staff as the lead assistant on Tuesday.

While losing out on someone as talented as Stotts to a division rival hurts, it gets worse. Lakers insider Anthony F. Irwin is now reporting that the 66-year-old coaching guru has now turned Los Angeles down three times after rejecting offers to join Frank Vogel and Darvin Ham’s squads.

It isn’t hard to see why the Lakers desperately wanted Stotts to be a part of Redick’s staff. Although he hasn’t coached in the league since 2021, that’s ignorable considering that he boasts a 517-486 (51.5%) regular-season record while going 23-44 (34.3%) in the NBA playoffs across 13 seasons split between the Atlanta Hawks, Milwaukee Bucks, and Portland Trail Blazers.

Stotts reached the top of the mountain back in 2011, too, helping the Dallas Mavericks win the first championship in franchise history as an assistant.

Nevertheless, the Bloomington, IN native has made it clear that Los Angeles just isn’t the place for him. Maybe isn’t ready to coach a dynamic duo like LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Or perhaps he doesn’t like how general manager Rob Pelinka runs the ship.

Regardless of Stotts’ reasoning, the Lakers failing to attract another assistant coach target is embarrassing. The latest rejection comes less than 24 hours after ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reported that former NBA Coach of the Year Dwane Casey also declined an assistant role on Los Angeles’ bench.

There’s nothing that can be changed now, though. Redick and his coaching staff must head into the 2024-25 season and prove that Stotts — and anyone else — made a mistake by saying no to the Lakers. After all, a successful regular season and championship run is the best form of revenge.

Fortunately, the future in Los Angeles looks bright even sans Stotts. The Lakers head into the remainder of the offseason with the ninth-best 2025 NBA Championship odds (+3000) on FanDuel Sportsbook.