Despite the NBA play-in tournament and playoffs beginning in the next few days, the Los Angeles Lakers will suck up plenty of oxygen in the world of basketball.
And perhaps Michigan basketball coach Juwan Howard will get caught in that cyclone.
According to Shams Charania, the Athletic’s chief NBA news-breaker, Howard is one name to watch as the Lakers look for a new head coach.
Multiple reporters have the Lakers dismissing coach Frank Vogel — who led them to an NBA championship just 18 month ago — after LA missed the postseason all together this season. Charania reports that current Raptors coach Nick Nurse, who led Toronto the NBA title the season before the Lakers won and is preparing to play Philadelphia in the first round of this year’s playoffs, is among LA’s top choices.
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“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,” Charania wrote.
Not only did Howard interview with the Lakers that year, but he also reportedly interviewed with the Timberwolves and Cavaliers. It was Cleveland that eventually hired John Beilein, creating the opening at U-M that Howard filled.
Since then, Howard has led the Wolverines to a pair of NCAA tournament, entering the 2021 Big Dance as the No. 1 seed and reaching the Elite Eight. This season, Michigan surprised many after making the tournament as a bubble team and reaching the Sweet 16.
In three seasons, Howard is 61-32 (35-22 Big Ten). He was national coach of the year in 2021, and made headlines in the latter stages of this past season after smacking a Wisconsin assistant coach during the handshake line after U-M’s loss in Madison. Howard was suspended for five games and returned to the sideline for the Big Ten tournament.
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The former Fab Five member and NBA All-Star was an assistant coach with the Miami Heat from 2013-19, and also played his final few seasons in the league with Miami, where he was teammates with Lakers superstar LeBron James.
Another reporter, Steve Bulpett, who has covered the Boston Celtics for more than three decades, is also hearing Howard’s name as an option for the Lakers. And, Bulpett adds that former Lakers and Celtics guard Rajon Rondo, who helped LA win the championship in 2020, could be an assistant for Howard. Rondo is now a backup with the Cavaliers, who take on Brooklyn in the play-in tournament on Tuesday.
Contact Kirkland Crawford: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @HiKirkHere.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan coach Juwan Howard a possible candidate for LA Lakers