“It feels to me that LeBron wants to call the shots, but publicly he doesn’t want to be known as the shot caller” - Max Kellerman says he likes the idea of LeBron James becoming a player-coach for the Lakers
LeBron James was mentioned by Max Kellerman in Tuesday’s episode of “NBA on ESPN”. During the episode, Keyshawn, JWill, and Max join together for a conversation about James’ ability to become a coach while he is playing.
Should LeBron James become a player-coach?
Kellerman weighs in with his opinion:
“It feels to me that LeBron wants to call the shots, but publicly he doesn’t want to be known as the shot caller”
Due to Frank Vogel’s recent dismissal as head coach, the job in Los Angeles is now available. With LeBron James being such a high IQ player, while also being known for making larger decisions than most players do, the NBA on ESPN crew speculated on whether James would do well as a coach.
The Los Angeles Lakers finished the 2021-22 NBA regular season in 11th place with 33 wins to 49 losses. The disappointment in LA has largely been credited to LeBron for his influence in the decision to add long-time friends Carmelo Anthony and Russell Westbrook to the team. With recent events in Los Angeles, the public may not take too well to the idea of James becoming a player-coach.
In any case, LeBron is already halfway there. “The King” has notable influence in LA and we saw that in this year's pre-season. James can most likely call big-time plays and make game-time decisions as he pleases. The man is in his 19th speculated on whether at 37-years-old, he may know a thing or two. He did finish the regular season averaging 30.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 6.2 assists per game.
With Frank Vogel gone, talking about LeBron James being a coach is of course simply speculation. Even after James is done in the NBA, there is no telling what he plans to do. But one thing is for sure, he did have a large influence in decisions for this season that the public deemed poor choices. Speculation on James becoming a coach may not be well received at the moment.
After all, as Max pointed out, James does not like being the one publicly known as the shot caller. LeBron is more of a game facilitator and playmaker than he is a primary scorer, regardless of his scoring abilities, James notably gets players involved before he takes the play into his own hands. Decisions like these are what would make James a good coach.
LeBron has a vision on the court that some players lack. Even the most elite NBA players with the best scoring abilities are unable to see the lanes, open plays, future possibilities, etc, that LeBron can. He is usually an assist first kind of person, and that supportive mentality is in-part a coaching mentality.
With LeBron James’ already large influence in LA, him becoming a player-coach would not be too far off from his position at the moment. It would arguably give him more power to make the decisions he stands firmly on, but James is known to be a community guy and team player.
He is probably happy with the amount of influence he has at the moment, as he can drop his opinions and know they have weight. LeBron James is not the guy to walk into an office and make a hard-headed demand for his team.
On top of that, James has always been able to see and understand the game of his opponents. Having that on the sidelines as a pair of coaching eyes would be dangerous. There is not much I can imagine a defense could do in attempting to fake out LeBron James.