The Lakers are often mocked for the advanced age of their roster, and it’s not likely to get better with the recent anecdote from a former player. On the other hand, it was not to integrate the workforce that the Pourpres et Ors had contacted him…
If the group of the Lakers has not evolved much, especially with regard to the hard core, there have been many more changes on the bench. Frank Vogel left the City of Angels after three years there, and it was Darvin Ham who came to replace him. The former assistant to the Bucks, champion in 2021, will have the difficult task of getting his roster back on its feet, in terms of tactics and game systems. A mission that will not be accomplished in a snap…
As we know, the job of coach can be particularly trying in the NBA and it is better to have the mentality required to resist the pressure of the result. This is also often why some athletes prefer to take their time, before considering a retraining in this area. Robert Horry is a very good example of this, as he recently confided on the Byron Scott podcast. He thus considers himself too young to join the benches of the big league:
The WTF reason behind Robert Horry’s denial to the Lakers
I have always had this passion for coaching. Last season, the Lakers interviewed me and asked me if I wanted to coach with the franchise. But it’s hard because you want to do it, you have the passion to do it, but it takes a long time, man, and I don’t have a lot of gray hair yet! I don’t want that yet!
It’s said with a lot of humor, but we understand what the seven-time champion wants with that. Having retired in 2008, almost 15 years ago, he also sees more and more of his former peers becoming tacticians within the NBA. That certainly does not make him any younger! He notably cited the case of Tyronn Lue, to whom he reserved a punchline as hilarious as it was salty. The Clippers coach will appreciate… or not:
When I look at Tyronn Lue, it’s crazy. I played with Ty Lue back then, and now I look like I’m 10 years younger than him. He looks older than me now! Is it the genetics of coaching? Ultimately, I have the passion to do it. I want to do it but I’m at a point where I’m like ‘can I coach and not travel? “If I can do that, then I want to do that.
Remember that Lue is seven years younger than Big Shot Rob, but the last years at the Cavs and then in Los Angeles have favored the progression of white hair on the former player’s skull. It doesn’t matter for the latter however, since he has made the Sailboats a stronghold in the West and who could play the leading roles in 2022-23, given that the workforce will recover Kawhi Leonard after a blank season. Seven years after winning the title in Cleveland, the coach would surely not say no to a second charm.
Considering himself still too young to be a full-time coach in the NBA, Robert Horry preferred to decline the Lakers’ proposal. In any case, we would like to know what Tyronn Lue thinks of his teammate’s punchline!