For the 10th time in his 21-season NBA career, has a new head coach. The reportedly on a four-year contract on Thursday, bringing in a coaching rookie to manage a team with clear championship aspirations that has fallen well short of its goal since its 2020 title. Much of those aspirations are attributable to James.
And while James has a player option for 2024-25, it would be a surprise if he doesn't stay in L.A. to play for his podcast co-host, Redick.
With James comes expectation, with expectation comes pressure and with pressure comes consequences if you fail to meet that expectation. For much of James' career, that has led to a fairly regular movement through a parade of head coaches. Some of those coaches never got a head coaching job again, while three of them are now among the league's highest-paid head coaches.
Here are all 10 of the hirings, and endings, that James has experienced with the Lakers, and . After selecting James with the No. 1 pick of the 2003 NBA Draft, the Cavaliers tapped Silas to be the teenager's first head coach and mentor.
Silas was only available after he was surprisingly fired by the Hornets despite leading them to the playoffs for four straight seasons. Silas was known to be a more old-school coach, which might have been what James needed given that his teammates that year were famously hostile to the idea of a 19-year-old walking in and immediately becoming more famous than them. The coach banned James' entourage from practices and helped him .