Lakers Rumors: Juwan Howard No Longer Expected to Pursue LA Coaching Job
Instead of following a Lakers playoff run, fans are resigned to tracking trade rumors and the team's head coaching search. Earlier this week, one name that had been previously linked to the Lakers head coaching gig is no longer an option.
Substack's Marc Stein reported that current University of Michigan head coach Juwan Howard is out of the running for the Lakers head coaching vacancy.
"Michigan's Juwan Howard is known to hold James' respect after their time together in Miami but is said to be firm in his desire to stay with the Wolverines to coach sons Jace and Jett."
Back in April, The Athletic's Shams Charania mentioned that Howard could be in the mix.
"Over the next several weeks, expect several other candidates to emerge, including University of Michigan coach Juwan Howard, who interviewed for the opening in 2019."
That has since changed.
Howard (sparingly) played alongside LeBron James on the Miami Heat and was a member of their 2012 and 2013 championship teams. Howard announced his retirement following the second title and became an assistant on Erik Spoelstra's staff the very next season.
He remained on the staff through the 2018-2019 season. He then left Miami to become the head coach at his alma mater.
As Stein mentions, Howard had some appeal to the Lakers front office based on his championship pedigree and relationship with LeBron.
Now, the Lakers will have to continue to explore other options including Milwaukee Bucks assistant Darvin Ham and Toronto Raptors assistant Adrian Griffin.
