Everyone knows about LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook. But the Lakers have some other important players to consider in hiring their next coach.
Among them: Shooting guard Austin Reaves, who is coming off a fine rookie season in which he was a key part of the rotation, averaging 7.3 points.
Reaves spoke to Matt Peralta of Lakers Nation about the type of coach he thinks the team needs. He echoed some of the sentiments from legend Magic Johnson, which we relayed earlier this week.
“Just someone that’s gonna put in the work every single day like all of us players do,” Reaves told Peralta/Lakers Nation. “That’s really all you can ask for in a coach, and then just being a guy that can do a little bit of both.
“Holding guys accountable and then on the other end if say you miss a couple of shots this is our one instead of say you’re don, but you encourage them. But there’s a fine line in between that and I’m definitely not a coach, so I wouldn’t know how to do those things together. Someone that can really control situations and make good situations on the fly.”
Bucks assistant Darvin Ham, former Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts and ex-Nets coach and current Clippers assistant Kenny Atkinson are the three reported finalists for the jobs. The Lakers could still have other candidates as well.
Reaves indicated he didn’t really seem to care if the new coach is a former player.
“Honestly, I’ve never thought about that,” he told Peralta/Lakers Nation. “I think guys that have played have probably a different feel than those that don’t cause they’ve been through it. But I’m not saying that a guy that hasn’t played can’t come in and be successful and do the right things.
“I just think that it really depends on the personnel you have and how you manage those guys. It’s not really all about having a feel for the game but having a feel for who you have on your team and what’s best for your team because everybody’s different.”
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