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With the firing of Darvin Ham, the LA Lakers hunt for a new head coach begins once more. As a franchise with a long history of winning, the team has shown that it can be impatient with coaches who have proven they cannot get the job done, so Ham's termination is no surprise.
Throughout the team's history, they have gone through over 20 head coaches. This dates back to 1948 when they were still based in Minneapolis. Of these coaches, six have won titles with the franchise and nine were fired. Here is a list of every head coach they have fired, starting with the most recent back to the '80s, along with their regular season record.
- Darvin Ham (2022-24): 90-74
- Frank Vogel (2020-22): 127-98, also won one championship in 2020
- Luke Walton (2016-19): 98-148
- Byron Scott (2014-16): 36-126
- Mike D'Antoni (2012-2014): 67-87
- Mike Brown (2012-13): 42-29
- Del Harris (1994-99): 224-116
- Randy Pfund (1993-94): 66-80
- Paul Westhead (1980-82): 111-50
Other coaching changes in the Lakers organization occurred due to the head coach stepping down, taking a job with a different team or stepping into a different role.
Who are the frontrunners to be the next Lakers head coach?
Even before Darvin Ham was fired by the Lakers front office, several names were brought up as a possible replacement. Now that he's terminated, a few potential replacements have been named, per Shams Charania and Jovan Buha of The Athletic.
One of the possible replacements is JJ Redick, who would be a first-time NBA head coach if that happens. Redick had a long NBA career as a shooting specialist and is currently an analyst. He also hosts two podcasts, one of which he does with LeBron James.
Another head coach whose name has popped up is Tyronn Lue. Lue is currently coaching the LA Clippers, who are still in playoff contention at the time of writing. Lue also has a prior connection to LeBron. Lue was the coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers when they beat the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 Finals.
Mike Budenholzer, who last coached the Milwaukee Bucks, is another coach who has found NBA Finals success. He coached the Bucks when they won the title in 2021. Prior to that, Budenholzer coached the Atlanta Hawks from 2013-18 and was an assistant with the San Antonio Spurs under Gregg Popovich.
The other name that has popped up as the new Lakers coach is current Golden State Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson. He was an assistant with the Clippers under Lue before his current posting with the Warriors.
Atkinson was also the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets from 2016-2020. He resigned from that position after a record of 118-190.
