The Los Angeles Lakers have only themselves to blame. Especially if Byron Scott gets tired of waiting and pulls himself out of the running to become their next head coach.
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The Los Angeles Daily News reported Wednesday that the Lakers are refuting earlier reports that they have held off hiring a coach because they are waiting to see whether Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers might want to relocate down the hall of Staples Center.
ESPN's Bill Simmons and Jalen Rose believe that the lawsuit that Clippers owner Donald Sterling has brought against the NBA and his estranged wife Shelly Sterling could delay or even prevent the sale of the team to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.
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In the event of a lengthy delay or Sterling prevailing, Simmons and Rose have suggested that Rivers would be interested in the Lakers' coaching job, and that's why the Lakers have not pulled the trigger and hired Scott after three interviews.
Two Lakers sources say that's not true.
"Amid all the unanswered questions who the Lakers will hire as their next head coach and when, two team sources strongly disputed that any delay stems from waiting out to see if Clippers coach Doc Rivers will become available because of embattled owner Donald Sterling prolonging a costly litigation battle," the LA Daily News reported.
Besides, why would Rivers, who refused to be part of the rebuilding process with the Boston Celtics when he went to coach the Clippers, seek a rebuilding job with the Lakers? If Rivers didn't feel obligated to remain with a team he coached to a championship, why would he accept a rebuilding job with a team with which he has no history?
Meanwhile, FanSided.com, citing a tweet from Basketball Insiders' Steve Kyler, has come up with a more plausible explanation for the complications standing in Scott's way of returning to the Lakers.
.@otts_thoughts: ---> my bet is Byron wants long-term deal to get through rebuilding. Lakers likely unwilling to do a five-six year deal.
— Steve Kyler (@stevekylerNBA) July 23, 2014
For the Lakers to act as if they're cash-strapped after signing aging Kobe Bryant to a two-year, $48.5 million contract is another example of a bad business sense. They likely were hoping that the free agents of the 2014 class would see how the Lakers take care of their elder superstars and want to sign with them.
Look how that turned out.
Now they want to give a coach a short-term contract because they know they're a few years away from competing and will want another coach when they acquire the talent they want? How much money would they actually save? And who's to say that Scott isn't the man to get them back to competing for championships?
They might as well let team owner Jim Buss coach the team in that instance.
What the Lakers have actually done is given Scott the upper hand in negotiations, if he chooses to take it. Coaching the Lakers likely is Scott's dream job, but if he can take his emotions out of the equation, he has leverage.
Imagine the public relations nightmare facing the Lakers if, after all their posturing, they offer Scott the job and he refuses. After all, he's not coaching the Showtime Lakers. He's taking a team that has some serious issues for the foreseeable future.
The current franchise is watching free agents leave, rather than join the team (Dwight Howard in 2013, Pau Gasol in 2014). Kobe Bryant is a great player, but obviously not a great salesman. And he's 35 years old with a lot of wear and tear on his body from 18 years in the NBA.
General manager Mitch Kupchak hasn't proven himself to be a great salesman without the aid of a championship organization behind him.
And Buss' coaching hires of Mike Brown and Mike D'Antoni (when Phil Jackson was available) have not proven prudent.
Never has the Lakers' outlook seemed so bleak, so why on earth would anybody want to coach them?
That might be the real delay.
Do you think anyone other than Byron Scott will coach the Los Angeles Lakers next season? Comment below or tell us @SportsWN.
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