NBA Rumors: Spurs Lead Assistant Ettore Messina Could Be next Lakers Coach
The Los Angeles Lakers' search for a new head coach may end up with the proud franchise hiring one of the unlikeliest candidates. Well, the name may not ring a bell but the resume says a lot about his capability.
According to USA Today, the team got permission from the San Antonio Spurs to interview Gregg Popovich's lead assistant, Ettore Messina, as a prospective replacement for Byron Scott. The team did not provide an exact date as to when the interview will happen but this surely will give fans very good reason to be excited. The thought of someone taking over the most coveted coaching job in all of basketball who happens to come from the Spurs organization is in itself a very intriguing one.
The veteran Italian coach comes with more than enough experience to be considered as a frontrunner for any coaching job in the league. He owns two Euroleague "Coach of the Year" awards and four Euroleague titles. Interestingly, his first job in the NBA was with the Lakers, when he was hired as one of the members of the coaching staff for Mike Brown. After Brown was fired, Messina joined the Spurs in 2014.
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So even though more than ten names have cropped up to become the Lakers' new head coach, there are actually only two people who will likely get it – Messina and lead assistant for the Golden State Warriors, Luke Walton.
Walton comes in with two advantages – first is when he impressed after head coach Steve Kerr was sidelined early in the season; second is the fact that he's a former Laker himself. Messina on the other hand has the advantage of experience and seniority.
There is still no additional information about the progress of the search but this story gets more and more interesting day by day because names continue to pop up. The latest to be added are Connecticut's young coach, Kevin Ollie and former New York Knicks coach and NBA analyst, Jeff Van Gundy.
