Camila Sosa
After the confirmation of Frank Vogel’s firing, the Los Angeles Lakers have no head coach for the next season and their biggest star LeBron James has a candidate that no one has mentioned so far: Mark Jackson.
According to Sam Amick of The Athletic, the 37-year-old veteran is very excited about the idea of Jackson being the next head coach of the team for the upcoming NBA season.
Jackson, has not taken the reins of a team since the 2013-2014 campaign, when he had what has been his only experience in the league. While leading the Golden State Warriors from 2011 to 2014, he accumulated a 121-109 record and two post-season appearances in three seasons.
He is usually credited in some part as one of the authors of the dynasty that encompassed the Warriors franchise beginning in 2015, being an important part of the development of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green in their early years as professionals.
Mark Jackson Is not in Lakers’ Plans for now
However, LeBron’s interest has not exactly been a starting point for ideas within the Lakers organization. Prior to Vogel’s hiring in 2019, James had proposed Tyronn Lue and Jason Kidd ahead of the strategist who would lead them to the championship that same season.
So far among the candidates, Mark Jackson has not been mentioned in any reports of interest by the Lakers, having Nick Nurse (head coach of the Toronto Raptors) as the main target of the board, which is also considering the names of Quin Snyder (Utah Jazz), Doc Rivers (Philadelphia 76ers) and Juwan Howard (University of Michigan).
On the other hand, James also made it known that he will not discuss any type of contract extension at least until the new collective bargaining agreement is finalized at the end of the year. The Lakers can offer him a two-year, $97,1 million dollar extension, more than any other team in free agency. But with the lack of success over the past two seasons, LeBron would rather wait to become a free agent than sign a premature pact with the Los Angeles team.
Another reason LeBron would wait to sign his new contract until free agency is for the possibility of playing in 2024 with his son, ”Bronny” James Jr, who will be part of the 2024 draft at its earliest. Still, the 18-time All-Star’s priority is to compete for the fifth championship of his career.
