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LeBron James reportedly has interest in seeing Mark Jackson become the next head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers.
According to Sam Amick of The Athletic, James is “very enthused” by the idea of Jackson as the Lakers’ head coach, although Amick noted LeBron’s endorsement doesn’t necessarily mean it will come to fruition.
The Lakers’ head coaching job became available Monday when the organization fired Frank Vogel after going a disappointing 33-49 this season.
In his first season at the helm in L.A., Vogel led the Lakers to a 52-19 record and an NBA championship, but things declined from there.
The Lakers reached the playoffs last season after going 42-30, but they needed to go through the postseason play-in tournament to get there. They also fell to the eventual Western Conference champion Phoenix Suns in the first round.
Even so, expectations were high entering the 2021-22 season, as the Lakers added Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony and several other supporting-cast members to a core made up of James and Anthony Davis.
Both LeBron and AD missed significant time because of injury, however, and the Lakers were unable to recover, resulting in an 11th-place finish in the Western Conference.