Lakers’ Austin Reaves breaks silence on coaching search

The Los Angeles Lakers are on the clock. Just two seasons after giving Darvin Ham his first NBA head coaching job, the Lakers decided that going in another direction was best for the franchise after the team suffered back-to-back playoff eliminations at the hands of the Denver Nuggets. And it looks like the Lakers already have someone to hire, as according to reports, JJ Redick is the favorite for the Purple and Gold head coaching vacancy.

There is always pressure for the Lakers to contend for a championship; after all, expectations are high with the duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis on the roster. For Austin Reaves, he doesn’t have high hopes for who the Lakers hire as their next head coach. Reaves just wants his future head coach to match the players’ approach when it comes to competing for a title.

“I don’t know when they’ll hire a coach, so I’m with you on this news. But I hope we have someone who will come to work every day like we do, ready to try to win a championship,” Reaves said on a Zoom call, according to Daniel Starkand of Lakers Nation.

Are these words subtle jabs at Darvin Ham? Who knows. It’s disingenuous to take what Austin Reaves said and interpret them as some sort of dislike towards the former Lakers head coach. Still, it’s understandable that Reaves would want someone who is connected to the team on a deeper level, as there were numerous reports that Ham didn’t have the full buy-in of the locker room last season.

Austin Reaves and the Lakers’ need for a cohesive system

Beyond having someone who fits the team’s desire to win a championship, Austin Reaves prefers his next head coach to be someone who can establish a system that makes the most of the talent the team has. ‘team. For the Lakers, we felt like we left something on the table last season; there was a point where Rui Hachimura and Reaves came off the bench while Cam Reddish and Taurean Prince started.

For Reaves, having a more established system would lead to more consistency. This could then help the Lakers achieve their competing goals much more easily as they try to avoid entering the 2025 NBA Playoffs as a lower seed amid growing competition in the West.

“I feel like that’s something you need in any sport you play, like consistency in a system and just building it up with what we have. Obviously Bron and AD are a very special duo, but you just need to develop a system around these two to help them with whatever they need and then play with them. But I think we’re moving in the right direction, obviously with a coaching change coming,” Reaves added.

Now, that last sentence is a much more direct shot at Darvin Ham. Perhaps a head coaching change is truly what’s needed to unlock another level for this iteration of the Lakers as they look to maximize the twilight years of LeBron James’ career.

Reaves makes his choice for the 2024 NBA Finals

While Austin Reaves is busy with his non-basketball activities, as he prepares to compete in the American Century Championship golf tournament, he is still keeping a close eye on what remains of the playoffs in NBA 2024. Of course, there’s a lot of excitement surrounding the 2024 NBA Finals matchup between the Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics, and for Reaves, choosing which team he supports to win it all is easy . After all, he’s a Laker through and through.

“I have to go to Dallas just because I can’t choose Boston,” Reaves said.

It will be interesting to see how the Mavericks defend a Celtics team that will have five shooters on the court at all times. The Mavs have had someone to help them in every series so far (Ivica Zubac, Russell Westbrook, Josh Giddey, Rudy Gobert and Kyle Anderson, to name a few), but the Celtics won’t give them this luxury.

Unfortunately, the Mavericks have the best player in the series in Luka Doncic as well as one of the greatest defenders of all time in Kyrie Irving. This will be a matchup that goes down to the wire, and it could all come down to which team can execute better in the clutch. The 2024 NBA Finals begin Thursday at 8:30 p.m. ET