It's been a pretty rough season for the Los Angeles Lakers. Despite the addition of LeBron James, the team has been plagued by injuries and some pretty serious chemistry issues. While LeBron is promising a return to form next year, the Lakers late-season collapse is still quite shocking. They were in fourth place at Christmas and are now sitting in 11th with a record of 33-42. As fans look for someone to blame, a lot of the attention has been directed towards head coach Luke Walton who hasn't done a great job at managing the big personalities on the squad.
Reports are already circulating saying that Walton will be fired and coaches like Jason Kidd could replace him. While nothing will be confirmed until the end of the season, some aren't too happy with the speculation. Stan Van Gundy, who has been fired from his fair share of teams, told TMZ Sports that Walton shouldn't be fired and that he's actually done a phenomenal job.
"Luke's done a great job and should remain their coach," Gundy explained. He also added that if Walton is fired, Kidd would be an adequate replacement. "I've coached against Jason for a few years ... he is a good coach."
It seems as though the coach's fraternity in the NBA is pretty tight so we're not surprised Van Gundy wouldn't want to bad mouth a fellow coach. We'll just have to wait and see if Magic Johnson feels the same way as SVG.
