Nba, Nick Nurse: ‘Me at the Lakers? No, I coach the Toronto Raptors’

He says it clearly, for the avoidance of doubt: “I coach of the Lakers? I don’t know where that stuff came from, I’m focused on coaching the Toronto Raptors. ” Nick Nurse was the dream of the yellow-violet fans, with that 2019 title in his pedigree and the fame he gained on the field, after so much apprenticeship, of being a winner. Instead, the Canadian technician is called out of the race, putting the return to the top of the Canadians, eliminated by Philadelphia in the first playoff round with a future-oriented team, at the top of his list of priorities. Nurse was a long shot for the yellow and purple, a temptation that is difficult to obtain since the coach who began his career in the English league still has two seasons on his contract with Toronto.

the Lakers list

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After the exoneration of coach Vogel, made official on April 11, Rob Pelinka and the Lakers management closed in silence to reflect on who is the right man to lead next year a team built again on LeBron James and Anthony Davis and on the dream of winning a title, to redeem the biggest failure in the history of the franchise. Nurse has always been a voice rather than a solid reality, but it was still the yellow-violet dream. An impossible dream like Doc Rivers: he is under contract with Philadelphia, a team that immediately aims to win the title thanks to his coach, and to get it the yellow and purple would have had to have the consent of the Sixers.

The other name very high on Pelinka’s list is Quin Snyder. His cycle in Utah seems to have come to an end after 8 years, with the elimination in the first round at the hands of Dallas yet another disappointment for a group that at the decisive moment has never managed to make a qualitative leap. Snyder after the knockout in Game-6 spoke as if his adventure at the Jazz was over, with the players competing to praise him with messages that knew more of greeting than of convincing him to stay. The management of Jazz, however, has other ideas: “Quin Snyder is one of the best coaches in the NBA – said GM Zanik -. There is no one else I would like to have as a coach, leader of our players and management partner ”. In short, Snyder himself will decide if his future is still in Utah or not. If he breaks free, the Lakers will be in the front row. Another candidate is Mark Jackson, who, however, in the last 8 years (since the Warriors in 2014 hunted him to take Steve Kerr) has been a TV commentator: he would have the liking of LeBron James as David Fizdale, Vogel’s deputy. he was already speaking as interim head coach when the coach seemed about to be sacked at the end of November. Jackson, however, is among the favorites for another free bench, that of Sacramento.

The candidate

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There’s only one name the Lakers are officially interested in so far: his name is Darvin Ham, he’s Mike Budenholzer’s highly regarded assistant in Milwaukee. He is 48 years old, has played 417 NBA games in his career, winning the title with the Pistons in 2004. He began his career on the bench at the Lakers in 2011 and stayed there for two seasons, first under Mike Brown and then with Mike D’Antoni. Pelinka has asked the Bucks for permission to interview him for a job, as required by NBA regulations: he may not be a Hollywood name, but a lot of good is said about him.