Next Lakers coach must meet changing expectations of job

By Ric Bucher
FOX Sports NBA Writer

The Los Angeles Lakers wasted no time tackling the easiest offseason task on their to-do list — fire head coach Frank Vogel — but don’t hold your breath until they cross off the toughest one: Find his replacement.

A list of candidates has already been floated and odds have been posted on their chances of being Vogel’s successor. The FOX Bet list includes: Utah Jazz coach Quin Snyder, Philadelphia 76ers assistant Sam Cassell, ESPN broadcaster Mark Jackson, former Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni, Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse, 76ers coach Doc Rivers, Michigan coach Juwan Howard and even retired Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.

It’s difficult to imagine a more eclectic list, from a young college coach (Howard) to a retired college legend (Krzyzewski) to someone the Lakers already fired once (D’Antoni) to coaches currently employed by better teams (Snyder, Nurse, Rivers) to an NBA assistant with no head-coaching experience (Cassell) to someone who hasn’t coached in seven years (Jackson). 

Why a list that looks like nothing more than a spitballing exercise? Because the Lakers are seeking nothing less than a coach who can be the binding force among a collection of past-their-prime superstars, a murkily structured front office and a large, demanding fan base in one of the country’s most competitive media markets.

Various current GMs and former coaches say the biggest challenge of NBA coaching nowadays is not about what system a coach runs or the strategy he or she employs. It’s about how he or she gets along with the front office, the star player, the team owner and, yes, the media and fan base. A coach’s approach to X's and O's and playing rotations can impact all those relationships, but that is secondary to the coach's ability to communicate to everyone the reason behind the choices.

Examples of NBA coaches excelling in building relationships with stars and in communicating their vision include Monty Williams in Phoenix, Jason Kidd in Dallas and Taylor Jenkins in Memphis.

A rival GM, asked if there is a clear-cut choice for the Lakers to pursue, said flatly: "Clear cut? Nope." He then listed the reasons: "Ownership. [GM] Rob Pelinka. LeBron James. Magic [Johnson]. Expectations."

Being a head coach, the GM added, is easily "the hardest thing to do in sports. You are always in the middle of the storm between the owners, players and management." And how is the job different now than, say, 10 years ago? "They have to master the gift of communication," he said. "They have to spend more time managing people than managing games."

Pelinka agrees with that assessment, based on his remarks about the most important quality the next Lakers coach should have. "Obviously with superstars on our team, we want a strong voice that is able to inspire the players to play at the highest level of competition every night … holding everybody on our team, from the top player to the 15th man, to a degree of accountability," he said.

But that’s only one part of the equation. The relationship between a coach and both front office and ownership is equally important. In the case of the Lakers, it would appear that Vogel needed to cultivate a relationship not only with Pelinka but also with Kurt Rambis and his wife, Linda, who have been identified as team governor Jeanie Buss’ closest confidants. Reports had Rambis sitting in on pregame meetings with the coaching staff and making suggestions at various times this season.

George Karl, recently inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, said the dynamics between head coaches and both management and ownership have changed dramatically in recent years. 

"The influence of head coaches has been deteriorating for over a decade, maybe longer," said Karl, who amassed a 1,175-824 record and 22 playoff appearances over 28 seasons, his last in 2016 with the Sacramento Kings. 

"For 15 of my last 17 years, I had what I wanted. I could say no to any trade, and I was involved in all discussions. In some cases, I had a direct relationship with the owner. I don’t even know if there are 10 coaches in the league who have that now. Player development has gone from being led by the head coach to the front office. Hiring of a head coach’s staff is now done by the front office in a lot of cases. Every contract I signed had a clause that management could veto one of my [staff] choices, but it never said management could choose the coaches for me.

"Being a team leader has to have some substance. More teams today are saying, ‘We control the coach. We direct the coach.’ That’s such a compromise. You’re asking someone to run a team without the necessary support."

It’s not clear if Vogel had any input on the formation of his coaching staff, but he did not hire anyone from his previous staffs in Indiana or Orlando, and reports indicated that management selected Kidd as his top assistant when Vogel first took the job. 

Vogel also received a fair amount of second-guessing on how he ran the team. Fans and some media expressed dissatisfaction with his tactics — his use of backup center DeAndre Jordan or his refusal to bring Russell Westbrook off the bench as examples.

But a former head coach, one who was dismissed despite having a winning record and making the playoffs, when asked to list the most essential skills for an NBA coach today, didn’t name a single thing that had anything to do with strategy or in-game decisions.

"Social media, load management, player power," he said, ticking off the areas or issues a coach has to navigate. "These are the most pronounced changes in my many years of coaching. And when I refer to social media, I don’t mean a head coach using social media to benefit himself. I mean navigating all the s--- that impacts a locker room — reaction to fragile on-court performance, family stuff, etc."

The influence of social media is compounded exponentially when it comes to the Lakers. They lead the league with nearly 22 million followers on Facebook and Twitter. Then there’s LeBron, who not only has a total of 180 million followers across all platforms — more than the league itself — but also is notably active, posting comments about everything from global issues to media criticism to team performance. 

Throw in Lakers legend Magic Johnson, who also has alternately praised and criticized the team both on air and to his five-million-plus Twitter followers, and you have the potential for an online brush fire choking your locker room atmosphere at any given moment.

Whether load management will be as much of an issue next season as it was this year — what with nine players 33 or older on L.A.'s roster for some or all of the season — is hard to know with only three players currently under contract. Given that James and forward/center Anthony Davis are two of the three, it will be a factor, seeing as James will turn 38 in December and Davis has struggled to stay healthy most of his career.

Dealing with heightened "player power" might be the biggest challenge of them all.

"Ten years ago, a coach could be firm with a player," the Eastern Conference GM said. "Today, coaches need to practice tact when speaking with players. Tone, words chosen, who else is in the room — those are all considerations now."

That message has been delivered. An Eastern Conference assistant who hopes to interview for a head-coaching position this summer said that of all the attributes an NBA head coach can have today, "being able to relate with players" and having "a small ego" are vital.

The Lakers, then, are in search of someone who can be demanding without raising his or her voice, confident without acting superior, consistent while still being flexible and aware of social media without being affected by it.

Oh, and winning a championship would be nice, too.

Ric Bucher is an NBA writer for FOX Sports. He previously wrote for Bleacher Report, ESPN The Magazine and The Washington Post and has written two books, "Rebound," the story of NBA forward Brian Grant’s battle with young onset Parkinson’s, and "Yao: A Life In Two Worlds," the story of NBA center Yao Ming. He also has a daily podcast, "On The Ball with Ric Bucher." Follow him on Twitter @RicBucher.