Report: Derek Fisher will not be Lakers next head coach

Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /
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Bleacher Report’s national NBA columnist Kevin Ding received some news about the Los Angeles Lakers’ latest attempts at finding their next head coach. According to Ding, it will not be Derek Fisher.

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“Two people told me on Tuesday not to expect him to become the next Lakers head coach, which is no surprise,” Ding wrote. “Fisher has always been unsure about the grinding life of a coach.”

Even with that aside, there are reports still surfacing that Fisher could find a head coaching gig in the NBA as one of Phil Jackson’s top choices to coach the New York Knicks. If Fisher is unsure about the coaching lifestyle, I’m not sure why New York would fix that issue.

If anything, it would seem to exacerbate it.

Fisher’s player-coach style on the Oklahoma City Thunder is evident.

He doesn’t contribute much anymore in box scores. Fisher can still shoot a bit from distance, but the rest of his game is on the outs.

What makes Fisher the most valuable is that he still finds ways to contribute to this team, especially in the locker room and on the bench. The best teammates are not always great coaches later in life, but people seem to feel as though Fisher would be.

There are a number of other candidates in the mix for Los Angeles right now as well, including retreads and experienced men like Byron Scott, Lionel Hollins and Alvin Gentry. Other options may include even less desirable options like Kurt Rambis and Mike Dunleavy.

We will just have to sit back and wait to see who the Lakers next head coach will be, but Fisher is becoming less likely by the day.