4 Darvin Ham replacements the Lakers must avoid at all costs

1. J.J. Redick

Redick is drawing some serious buzz to be Darvin Ham’s replacement in Los Angeles. The 15-year NBA veteran was an elite shooter who transitioned to media during his playing career. He has multiple successful podcasts and broadcasts games on ESPN.

Redick has zero coaching experience unless his son’s youth team counts. Fans can watch him draw up plays with LeBron James on their Mind the Game podcast. He has an elite basketball IQ and has received interest from several teams since hanging up his sneakers, but LA has championship aspirations. Signing someone with zero coaching experience seems like a poor decision.

Six NBA coaches have won a championship in their first year as head coach, but none of them had zero experience. All had been assistants before landing the head job. The Lakers cannot afford to waste a year or two with LeBron approaching his 40th birthday and Anthony Davis in his prime. The pressure is on to win immediately. Doing so in your first-ever coaching experience seems impossible.

The Los Angeles Lakers have a strong list of candidates and may even hire someone off this list. They are early in the process and should take their time. LA must get it right, but it won’t be easy. Once they hire a new head coach, the hard part begins of building the team into a title contender, so stay tuned.