As Frank Vogel emerges as a contender to become the Los Angeles Lakers next head coach, it appears at least one of his assistants will already be picked out by the organization.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Jason Kidd is a strong candidate to become an assistant coach on the staff and is reportedly going to have a prominent role in the potential assistant role.
It’s important to keep in mind that Los Angeles’ desire to include Kidd on its coaching staff is one of the reasons things fell apart with Ty Lue. The Lakers wanted to force Kidd onto Lue’s potential staff and when paired with the short contract, that was enough for Lue to back away.
Kidd certainly isn’t lacking in experience in the NBA. His storied NBA career helped lead to a head coaching job with one season guiding the Brooklyn Nets in 2013 followed by a four-year stint with the Milwaukee Bucks.
He also has a history of causing problems and his willingness to challenge those above him, including a power move in 2014 and more issues in Milwaukee, which could create problems for a head coach whenever things get bumpy during the season.
If Los Angeles ends up hiring Kidd as an assistant, he could be a ticking time bomb on the coaching staff. As of now though, it appears the Lakers are willing to look past that and perhaps Vogel is too.