After much speculation over the past few months, the Los Angeles Lakers have officially fired head coach Darvin Ham after two seasons with the team.
Despite several conflicting reports over the past few weeks that Ham was safe regardless of how far the Lakers advanced in the NBA playoffs, the team decided it was time to make a change, as if the head coach had lost. locker room.
With the Lakers once again having a head coaching vacancy, rumors are starting to circulate about who will be Ham’s successor in Los Angeles, with a number of candidates emerging on Friday.
According to Bovada, the favorite to become the Lakers’ next head coach is someone who is already there, with assistant coach Phil Handy having the best chance of getting the job right now.
Phil Handy is currently the favorite to become the next Los Angeles Lakers Coach
Phil Handy +200
Juwan Howard +650
Quin Snyder +650
Jared Dudley +700
Sam Cassel +700
Kenny Atkinson +800
Steve Clifford +900
JB Bickerstaff +1200
Mike Brown +1600
LeBron James +2200 pic.twitter.com/r3FrtD5xoH— Bovada (@BovadaOfficial) April 30, 2024
With the Lakers intent on trying to convince superstar forward LeBron James to stay with the team as he likely voids his contract next month, the team will likely want his input on its next head coach.
Handy has been with the Lakers since James joined the team and was a defensive assistant when the team parted ways with Frank Vogel a few years ago.
While Handy is the current favorite, it will be interesting to see where this coaching search leads, especially if another coach in the league is fired after being eliminated from the NBA playoffs, namely Tyronn Lue of the Los Angeles Clippers.
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Insider Names 4 Potential Candidates Who Could Replace Darvin Ham