The Los Angeles Lakers are seemingly nearing the end of their head coach search before much of the NBA offseason action. They are in the final round of interviews, and the names who have made it this far may surprise some people.
The three people who are interviewing in the final round are Milwaukee Bucks assistant Darvin Ham, Golden State Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson and former Portland Trail Blazers head coach, Terry Stotts.
The list has transformed since the beginning of the search when bigger names were being mentioned. Quin Synder of the Utah Jazz and Nick Nurse of the Toronto Raptors were both reported targets. Another person that was mentioned was Doc Rivers of the Philadelphia 76ers. From the collegiate ranks, Juwan Howard, the men’s basketball coach at Michigan, was also sought after.
While the Lakers have seemingly narrowed down their list, one person believes that Rivers is still a dark horse candidate. Los Angeles has reportedly not ruled out trying to hire him and Colin Cowherd believes that he is actually the best fit with the Lakers.
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Doc Rivers has been on the sidelines in 24 different seasons for the Orlando Magic, Boston Celtics, LA Clippers, and 76ers. He won a championship with the Celtics in 2008 and has handled star players throughout his coaching career.
While what Cowherd mentions is all true, there have also been some low points for Rivers. He has had a ton of star players but hasn’t really gotten close to another championship outside of 2008 when they won and 2010 when they were Eastern Conference Champions.
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His teams have also suffered some excruciating postseason losses, blowing big series leads. It was something he oddly brought up during the first round of the 2022 NBA Playoffs when the Philadelphia 76ers went up 3-0 on the Toronto Raptors but struggled a little to put them away.
Doc Rivers has experience coaching in Los Angeles, which would help, but given his lack of success getting superstar-laden teams over the hump, he may not be as good of a fit for the Lakers as Cowherd believes.
