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Scott Brooks interviews with the Lakers for assistant coaching position, according to report

The former Washington Wizards head coach may be out of a head coaching job, but he may be on an opposing team’s bench as soon as next year.

By Albert Lee
2021 Play-In Tournament - Indiana Pacers v Washington Wizards
Scott Brooks may be back on an NBA coaching staff this season, but just as an assistant.
Photo by Stephen Gosling/NBAE via Getty Images

When an NBA head coach loses his job, he generally does one of these things:

  1. Be hired as a head coach of another NBA team.
  2. Be hired as an assistant coach or a front office executive (not necessarily the head executive) on another team.
  3. Be hired as an analyst for an NBA team’s regional sports affiliate or a national network like ESPN or NBA TV.
  4. Be hired as a head coach at a different level, like college.
  5. Retire or move onto something else in his life.

Therefore, it shouldn’t be a surprise that former Washington Wizards head coach Scott Brooks is on the job market, and specifically for positions within the NBA. He is 55 years old and could coach for 20 more years.

So I’ll cut to the chase. Yesterday, Marc Stein of The New York Times reported that Brooks interviewed for an NBA assistant coach position with the Los Angeles Lakers, where he would be on Frank Vogel’s staff.

Stein did not specify whether Brooks would be the lead assistant coach, an assistant coach who is on the bench with the head coach, or just an assistant coach who generally sits in the second row. As Sam Quinn of CBS notes, only three assistant coaches can sit in the front with the head coach, though teams can hire as many assistants as they would like.

Currently, only one Lakers assistant coach from last year, Jason Kidd, is leaving, because he is the new head coach of the Dallas Mavericks, but it’s possible that he may bring in more coaches from the Lakers. Our friends at Silver Screen and Roll have noted that Kidd’s vacancy was presumably filled by David Fizdale, who would presumably be on the bench.

Best of luck to Coach Brooks as he looks to get a new position.