Kobe Bryant said his reaction to Mike D’Antoni resigning as Lakers head coach was that he didn’t care, although with his career winding down and the next hire being so critical to his future chances for success, he’d like to take a more active role in helping the team make that decision.
Over All-Star weekend, Bryant said that he wanted to stay out of the way of the front office in terms of how the Lakers go about assembling the roster. But after two consecutive head coaching choices haven’t come close to working out, Bryant wants to make sure the Lakers get the next one right.
From Dave McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles:Bryant hopes the Lakers will sing a different tune than they have in the past when it comes to consulting him about hiring a coach.
“On the last two they didn’t,” Bryant said, referring to Mike Brown and D’Antoni, who both failed to endure the length of the initial contracts they signed with the Lakers before parting ways. “On the third one, I’m hoping they do.”
The Lakers are in an extremely difficult spot, one that makes choosing their next coach more complicated than usual.
Bryant has two years left on his contract, and if he can remain healthy, is still an All-Star level talent capable of carrying the team at times. But as we’re seeing more and more, it takes multiple star players, along with some high-quality reserves in order to contend for a title, and the Lakers are far, far away from that level, and are likely to remain there for at least one more season.
So, do the Lakers try to get someone who is well-respected and has experience dealing with stars at the NBA level, or do they go for a younger, less proven choice on a long-term deal (similar to the one Brad Stevens got in Boston) to rebuild the team for the future?
There are no easy answers, and the franchise needs to decide if it is going to try to reconstruct the roster on the fly with Bryant still in place, or go for a more traditional rebuild through the draft which will extend the painful process.
However they choose to proceed, given the fact that he’s close to the end of his Hall of Fame career, Bryant wants a say in the decision this time.