“If Anybody…Could Do This, LeBron James Could”: Skip Bayless Touts the King as a Potential Player-Coach for the Lakers Amid Three-Game Losing Streak
LOS ANGELES, CA – MAY 22: Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (6) talks with Los Angeles Lakers coach Darvin Ham during game 4 of the NBA, Basketball Herren, USA Western Conference between the Denver Nuggets and the Los Angeles Lakers on May 22, 2023, at Cyrpto.com Arena in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Jevone Moore/Icon Sportswire) NBA: MAY 22 NBA Playoffs – Nuggets at Lakers EDITORIAL USE ONLY Icon2305221302
In response to the LA Lakers’ recent struggles, Skip Bayless joined the host of critics questioning whether Darvin Ham should continue as the team’s head coach. The team has reportedly had a bit of a rift with Ham in recent weeks, with multiple sources questioning whether he will survive the run of results. With such speculation surrounding the job, Skip Bayless made an interesting claim that LeBron James was perfectly capable of becoming the player-coach for the LA Lakers.
The Undisputed cast was talking about how players have seemingly started tuning their coach out. Bayless used the opportunity to make a suggestion of his own.
“To your point, allow me to go old-school here. You are gonna scoff and laugh at this. Once upon a time in this league, there was these thing called player-coaches. Bill Russells, Mr. Russell, he coached championship teams while playing on championship teams. The great Lenny Wilkens, coached and ran the point for some very good basketball teams,” he said.
Bill Russell won three of his 11 championships as player-coach for the Boston Celtics, while Wilkins took up a similar role for two teams, the Seattle Supersonics and the Portland Trail Blazers, in the early 1970s.
“If anybody in the history of this league could do this, LeBron James can coach this team and run the point for this team. He has got the highest IQ in basketball, one of the highest,” Bayless claimed, suggesting that LeBron was himself more than capable of pulling off a similar role, with success.
Darvin Ham has recently been under the scanner following the team’s poor performances. The Lakers have struggled with their bench contributions, especially in the absence of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and seemingly do not have clarity over their starting lineups.
Ham has started nine different lineups this season and while injuries have surely played a part, his adjustments have failed to produce victories. One of those included trying out LeBron James at the PG position, a tactic he gave up against the Miami Heat, recently.
Skip Bayless’ suggestion of making LeBron James the head coach is only aesthetic
While there is little doubt that LeBron James might be more than capable of coaching the Lakers, the NBA prohibits the same. While players such as Russell, Wilkens, Bob Cousy, and Dave Cowens all doubled up as coaches as well, that all changed once the salary cap was instituted in 1985.
Since then, players cannot double up as coaches simply because there is no cap on coaches’ salaries. This means that a player who will have the dual role can effectively be paid as much as the franchise wants, which is now seen as a circumvention of the salary cap, according to Sporting News.
Of course, while the Lakers are currently desperate enough to take the suggestion of LeBron James as head coach seriously, Darvin Ham has also had success with the franchise. Bayless also let his feelings known as he said, “I think he is a very good coach, I think he is a good man and I think he is a consistent human being, which is the essence of being a good coach.”
The Lakers went all the way to the Conference Finals last season and defeated the Golden State Warriors en route. They did so after initially seeming to not even be on their way to the Playoffs, and have already won the In-Season tournament this time around. A quick change in fortunes, and the 17-18 record that they currently hold, will also seem much better than it does at the moment.
