The Los Angeles Lakers parted ways with head coach Frank Vogel after a disastrous season where the team failed to make the playoffs.
In the immediate aftermath, Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doc Rivers was floated as a potential replacement. It made sense, given the growing discontent regarding his style in Philly’s locker room and his increasingly common beefs with James Harden.
As it turns out, though, Rivers has no interest in the Lakers.
Why?
Because he didn’t like how they handled the Vogel firing.
“I think it’s so unfair,” Rivers said this week to Mike Sielski of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “I thought the Frank Vogel thing was so unfair. We work just like you guys work. How would you like your jobs to be mentioned every day? I mean, even if it’s someone wanting to have you, it’s just not right. I hate it. There’s nothing I can do about it.”
Rivers then went out of his way to take himself out of the running for the Lakers’ vacancy.
“No, I’m not a candidate,” he concluded. “I have a job, and I am very happy in my job.”
Rivers has proved himself to be a particularly overrated coach in recent years, so this is no big loss for the Lakers. That said, it does paint an unfortunate picture regarding how others around the league view the once-proud franchise.
And it doesn’t spell good things for L.A. as the front office continues to seek out a new head coach.
At this point, there appears to be one favorite to step in as the Lakers’ next head coach. But time will tell if that can actually materialize.
If it doesn’t, there’s always Mark Jackson. Of course, there’s a reason he has been blackballed from the NBA up to this point. And it’s unclear whether the Lakers will want to be the team that breaks that pattern.
This is shaping up to be an interesting offseason in Los Angeles.
More must-reads: