TNT analyst Kenny Smith recently said that former Golden State Warriors head coach Mark Jackson could lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a championship.
The Lakers are currently searching for a new head coach after firing Frank Vogel.
TMZ Sports spoke with Smith about who the Lakers should hire, and Smith pointed out Jackson’s past experience.
“Mark Jackson, he knows how to handle that kind of environment,” Smith said in response to a query about the Lakers’ next coach.
Later on during the brief interview, Smith indicated that Jackson could help the Lakers capture another NBA title and cited how he helped the Warriors.
“Mark Jackson could coach the Lakers to a championship, for sure,” Smith said.
Jackson took over the Warriors’ head coaching job in 2011 and led the team to a 23-43 record in the 2011-12 lockout-shortened season. In Jackson’s last two seasons in that role he won a total of 98 games.
The problem for Jackson during those two winning seasons was the Warriors’ inability to go deep into the postseason. In the 2013 playoffs, the team was eliminated in the second round, and it got knocked out in the first round the following year.
After those struggles in 2014, Jackson was fired by the Warriors and replaced by Steve Kerr. Over the next five seasons, the team won three NBA titles and reached the NBA Finals in each season.
That level of success by Kerr and the Warriors has overshadowed Jackson’s role in turning the team’s fortunes around.
If Jackson were hired by the Lakers, he would have a strong duo in LeBron James and Anthony Davis. James would reportedly be “very enthused” if Jackson were to become L.A.’s next coach.
Right now, there’s no indication that Jackson is under serious consideration by the Lakers, though that could change at some point in the future.
