Kobe Bryant clearly put out word last summer that he wished the Lakers could hire Tom Thibodeau.
The Lakers reportedly sought permission from to interview Thibodeau, but they hired Byron Scott.
Jordan Shultz of Huffington Post:
Being told that the Lakers will be pursuing Tom Thibodeau. Byron Scott has just the one year left. Lakers would be paying four head coaches.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) May 20, 2015
Scott got on his players nerves (and vice versa), professed his disbelief in analytics and oversaw an exceptionally lousy defense.
The Lakers absolutely should look into upgrading to Thibodeau.
And they might.
But keep in mind how many people have incentive to leak this story – whether or not it’s true:
- Kobe could be trying to spark something. If Kobe wants to play for Thibodeau, creating unrest between Scott and Lakers management might be a good way to kick-start the process of switching coaches.
- The Lakers could be floating this story without truly intending to pursue Thibodeau as a way to appease Kobe.
- The Bulls could be trying to build a bidding war for compensation for Thibodeau, who’s still under contract with Chicago. The Pelicans and Magic are interested in the coach, but as New Orleans looks elsewhere, the Bulls lose leverage.
- And Thibodeau could be trying to drum up competition to increase his salary.
Get past that, and this at least makes some sense.