Why the Lakers’ coaching search indicates a shift in their priorities

The Lakers coaching search continues but the main candidates for the job show a significant shift from previous team hires.

The Los Angeles Lakers coaching search has entered its second month after the team fired Darvin Ham following its first round playoff exit to the Denver Nuggets.

There has been plenty of noise regarding potential candidates from James Borrego to current Boston Celtics assistant coach Sam Cassell to Minnesota Timberwolves assistant coach Micah Nori to a lot of smoke about a potential JJ Redick hire and, most recently and perhaps most notably, University of Connecticut head coach and reigning back-to-back national champion Dan Hurley.

The last was the most surprising and out of left field but Hurley decided to remain at UConn for a variety of reasons, most notably his desire to win a third straight national championship — a feat not accomplished since John Wooden’s UCLA teams won seven in a row in the ’60s and ’70s — with a program that Hurley rebuilt himself along with multiple ties to the Northeast.

Following that endeavor and decision, the Lakers have continued with their coaching search — officially interviewing Redick over the weekend.

Looking at the two main candidates in Hurley and Redick gives insight into what the Lakers’ front office is looking for with this coaching hire.

In the following video, I explained that approach and why it signals a seismic shift for the Lakers

This Lakers’ front office is extremely tight with information and vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka keeps things close to his vest. To that point, all the information about Hurley was reported by Adrian Wojnarowski, who is very close with the Hurley family and likely had a direct line to that information.

For that reason, we have to read between the lines to get a closer feel for what the Lakers’ front office is thinking and looking for. In this case, that looks to be much different than previous recent hires and reflects a sobering understanding of how much the NBA landscape has changed and the actual paths to building a contender.

Dr. Rajpal Brar, DPT has a doctorate in physical therapy from Northern Arizona University, is a youth basketball coach at the U12 level and runs his own in-person and online sports medicine and performance business, 3CB Performance, in West LA and Valencia, CA in which he further combines his movement expertise and fitness training.

Combining his background in biomechanics, movement science, and learning science - he consults in a variety of sports including basketball on movement mechanics and skill acquisition. Brar is additionally training at UCLA’s mindful awareness research center (MARC and analyzes the Lakers from a skills & medical perspective for Silver Screen and Roll and on his own YouTube Channel. You can follow him on Twitter at @3cbPerformance.