Former Lakers coach and player Byron Scott said LeBron James should pull double duty and serve as a player-coach for the Purple & Gold.
On the May 8 episode of FS1’s “Undisputed,” Scott explained why the Lakers would be better off asking James to coach the team.
“My recommendation [for] the next Lakers coach — out of the eight or nine names I’ve heard — his name wasn’t on there. Make LeBron the coach,” said Scott, who won three championships with the Lakers in the Showtime Era of the 1980s.
“Listen, I’ve got nothing but love and respect for LeBron, he’s one of the greatest players to ever play this game,” Scott continued. “But it’s obvious to me that he’s making a lot of decisions in this organization — from a coaching standpoint and player standpoint. So if you’re gonna allow him to make those decisions, sit on the bench and make those decisions as well. Be the head coach. Go back to the Bill Russell days.”
"The only person LeBron is going to trust is himself."
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) May 8, 2024
— @official_bscott pic.twitter.com/hCoqabF6be
Who Should Be the Next Lakers Coach?
Scott — who coached the Lakers for two seasons between 2014 and 2016 — scoffed at the idea of a debutant such as JJ Redick ascending to the role of the Lakers head coach, given the expectations of the position.
“You obviously have to get somebody that LeBron is comfortable with,” Scott said. “The last name I heard was JJ Redick, and I started laughing. Now, they’ve got a podcast together … Y’all are buddy-buddy, so his name is on the list? As far as I’m concerned, the only person he’s gonna trust is himself.”
Appearing on FS1’s “Speak,” former Super Bowl champion James Jones reacted to Scott’s comments, saying he could be onto something. Jones said that James must take accountability for getting coaches fired by taking on the role himself.
“When I look at LeBron James, he’s got coaches fired that won championships with him [Frank Vogel], he’s got coaches fired that took him to Western Conference finals [Darvin Ham], he’s got coaches fired that took him to first-round exits… I think Byron Scott is talking like me,” Jones said on the May 8 episode of “Speak” on FS1. “He’s salty. Because you [James] done got all these coaches fired. … You coach!”
Will LeBron James Even Remain a Laker?
As of May 9, there was no guarantee that “The King” would even remain in Los Angeles next year, considering he had yet to pick up his player option for 2024-25. If he were to decline it, he would become a free agent in June.
On the April 8 episode of “Get Up” on ESPN, Brian Windhorst reported that James will take a wait-and-see approach before signing on the dotted line with the Lakers.
“I think he wants to see what the Lakers do around the draft,” Windhorst said. “They have potentially three first-round picks they can trade, a couple of contracts they can package with it to upgrade the team. You remember that they did not make any significant upgrades to this team at the trade deadline. LeBron did not forget that and I do think he likes to have that pressure on them.”
Warriors star Draymond Green also said James isn’t guaranteed to sport a Lakers jersey in the 2025-25 season.
“Some people think it’s a foregone conclusion that ‘Bron is going back to the Lakers. I don’t know if it’s a foregone conclusion. I think if there was something that came about that was interesting, I think he’d look at it,” Green said on “The Draymond Green Show” on May 2. ”
While most anticipate James to re-sign with the Lakers, stranger things have happened in the NBA — and the idea of the legendary forward switching teams can’t be counted out. According to oddsmakers, the Cavaliers, Knicks and Heat all have a puncher’s chance to land James either via trade or free agency.
