Far from bouncing back from a rather disappointing year, the Los Angeles Lakers have fallen terribly short of expectations in the 2021-22 NBA season. LeBron James and company entered the year with title aspirations, yet they not even made it to the play-in tournament.
Needless to say, the front office is expected to shake things up after such a terrible campaign. They started by firing head coach Frank Vogel, and in the following months more players could also be on their way out. However, rebuilding themselveswon’t be that simple for the Lakers.
In an ideal scenario, they’d part ways with a number of players, starting with Russell Westbrook, but their cap is far from flexible and they probably won’t get much in return in potential trades either. That’s why any coach may hesitate in taking the reins of the team, although Shaquille O’Neal said he would be willing to do so- under one unreal condition.
Shaq’s wild condition to become the new Lakers coach
Vogel’s days in LA have been numbered for a long time, it was only a matter of months for the Lakers to make it official. Well, an 11th place finish sealed his fate and the job is now up for grabs.
But given how difficult hiring a new coach seems to be right now, Shaq hilariously claimed that he would take the position – but only for a four-year, $25 million salary. His incredibly high demands suggest what a hot seat the Lakers coaching job is right now, as he would only consider to take over for a ridiculous sum of money.
Shaq playing for the Lakers. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
The realistic Lakers coaching candidates
While Shaq just teasedabout the possibility of taking charge of the team, there are some candidates on the Lakers’ drawing board, but given that it is still playoff time for many of them, they may have to wait a bit longer.
Doc Rivers of the Philadelphia 76ers and QuinSnyder of the Utah Jazz are reportedly two of the favorites to take over at the Lakers, with the latter as a more realistic possibility despite he’s still under contract.
It’s true that turning the Lakers around seems a very complicated task, but working for such a popular franchise is always appealing. As a matter of fact, to help them get back on their feet could be an extra motivation to accept the offer. Besides, the new coach would count on LeBron James andAnthony Davisto begin this challenge.
