{"id":81484,"date":"2024-06-15T08:46:43","date_gmt":"2024-06-15T12:46:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=81484"},"modified":"2024-06-15T08:46:43","modified_gmt":"2024-06-15T12:46:43","slug":"lakers-former-nba-head-coach-reggie-theus-thoughts-sam-cassell-candidate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/06\/15\/lakers-former-nba-head-coach-reggie-theus-thoughts-sam-cassell-candidate\/","title":{"rendered":"Former NBA Head Coach Gives Thoughts on Lakers\u2019 Candidate"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As the Los Angeles Lakers trudge through a swampy offseason stretch, Bethune-Cookman head coach <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/theusre01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Reggie Theus<\/a> discussed the state of the franchise.<\/p>\n<p>Far from the average Inglewood native and lifelong Lakers fan, Theus is a former NBA All-Star and head coach. As a result, he found himself being asked what he thinks the organization should do after Huskies head coach Dan Hurley <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/06\/10\/breaking-dan-hurley-turns-down-lakers-returns-to-uconn\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">decided not to leave<\/a> what he built at UConn.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cListen, it takes a special person to be a Lakers coach,\u201d Theus tells TMZ Sports.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJust being good is not good enough here. You gotta win championships. You gotta be in the hunt for championships. So, I give them credit for going all the way to the top, just like they tried to get (Mike) Krzyzewski. I think that\u2019s what they have to continue to try to do.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Sam Cassell Would Be &#039;Excellent Choice&#039; For Lakers HC, Says Reggie Theus | TMZ Sports\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dagIaMgpzgQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>It doesn\u2019t always to be the guy that\u2019s at the top of the hill. They just have to find a guy that can relate, a guy that knows the style of play, (and) can gain the respect of the players. Those things matter most. Street credit is always important.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Reggie Theus Gives Thoughts on Lakers Head Coach Candidate, Sam Cassell<\/h2>\n<p>Asked his views on the Lakers hiring Boston Celtics assistant coach Sam Cassell, Theus exclaims: \u201cI love Sam!\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201c\u2026He\u2019s been around. He\u2019s earned his dues. He knows the game frontwards and backwards. He\u2019s been a part of winning scenarios. I think he\u2019d be an excellent choice\u2026\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Theus (13 years) and Cassell (15 years) have considerable NBA experience. However, there\u2019s no overlap between the careers. As a player, Theus\u2019s final NBA game was in Apr. 1991. Cassell didn\u2019t make his NBA debut until Nov. 1993.<\/p>\n<p>They both began coaching around the same time. Theus was the Sacramento Kings\u2019 head coach in 2007-08 and 2008-09 before joining the Minnesota Timberwolves as an assistant coach for the next two seasons. In that time, Theus may have considered hiring Cassell. Indeed, in 2009-10, the Washington Wizards brought Cassell in as an assistant coach.<\/p>\n<p>Yet, hypotheticals aside, their timelines have had minimal convergence.<\/p>\n<p>All that is to say that there\u2019s no intimate relationship between Theus and Cassell. They\u2019re from different areas; Theus\u2019s hometown is in California and Cassell\u2019s is in Maryland. Their lives are connected in the sense that Cassell\u2019s career began almost immediately after Theus\u2019s ended. Yet, they haven\u2019t competed against or with one another. Cassell has never been coached by Theus.<\/p>\n<h3>An Unbiased Observer<\/h3>\n<p>Theus\u2019s examination of Cassell\u2019s worthiness missing exclusive information outside can be viewed in a negative light. However, Theus\u2019s assessment of Cassell is unbiased. It being based on his r\u00e9sum\u00e9 rather than a personal connection allowed for an unfiltered view. To that point, had Cassell been a two-year NBA veteran with five years of NBA coaching experience, Theus may not have had such a rosy outlook on his potential hiring.<\/p>\n<h3>Is Cassell Creative Enough?<\/h3>\n<p>Teams that interviewed Cassell have a more in-depth view of Cassell\u2019s basketball knowledge and individual philosophies. After 30 years in the NBA, his hoops IQ is undoubtedly higher than most people\u2019s. That being said, his Lakers\u2019 candidacy doesn\u2019t hinge on that alone.<\/p>\n<p>As evidenced by their hard push for Hurley, serious interest in James Borrego, and the gaze they\u2019ve given JJ Redick, the Lakers also value innovation and creativity. Cassell has spent a considerable amount of time coaching under Doc Rivers, so he learned a lot about motivating players and clearly defining their roles. Rivers will have helped him when it comes to designing after timeout plays (ATOs) and out-of-bounds plays, two of his specialties. However, after three decades in the NBA, Cassell should have some nifty ideas of his own.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s well-regarded for his work in player development. Having played at a high level in the NBA, he\u2019ll have the respect of the locker room before steps in. His knowledge will help him extend and sustain that approbation. With his charisma, players will want to fight and win for fiery former point guard.<\/p>\n<p>Cassell just has to show off his X\u2019s and O\u2019s and give the Lakers his long-term vision. Yes, if he had a podcast, that <em>would<\/em> be easier. Nonetheless, until L.A. \u2014or another team\u2014 hires him as head coach, the public won\u2019t be privy to those thoughts. Theus and others hopes that day comes sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the Los Angeles Lakers trudge through a swampy offseason stretch, Bethune-Cookman head coach Reggie Theus discussed the state of the franchise. Far from the average Inglewood native and lifelong Lakers fan, Theus is a former NBA All-Star and head coach. As a result, he found himself being asked what he thinks the organization should [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":81491,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26,1608,5,62,3],"tags":[4557,49300,2207],"class_list":["post-81484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lakers","category-basketball","category-celtics","category-nba","category-news","tag-nba-offseason","tag-reggie-theus","tag-sam-cassell"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81484"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81484\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}