Phil Jackson being involved in the Lakers’ coaching search isn’t a bad thing

The Los Angeles Lakers coaching search is into its initial phases, with the front office brain trust reportedly going through an extensive and methodical process that general manager Rob Pelinka has said he hopes will be concluded prior to the 2022 NBA Draft.

This week we got wind that former Lakers head coach and Knicks executive (one of those runs was a lot different than the other!) Phil Jackson is advising the team on the coaching search, a search that ESPN insider Adrian Wojnarowski defined as “very much a committee”.

When the news broke, it was seemingly met with lots of hand-wringing by Lakers fans, rival fans telling jokes, and also a heavy amount of confirmation bias. In the following video, I explained why the inclusion of Phil in the coaching search is a good thing based on his precedent in coaching searches and actual evidence:

This coaching decision is a big moment for the Lakers, which comes with a lot of emotion. However, the process already looks to be off to a good start with Bucks assistant coach Darvin Ham and Raptors assistant Adrian Griffin the first two candidates the team is reportedly looking to interview. Let's continue to see how it plays out before freaking out too much.

Dr. Rajpal Brar, DPT has a doctorate in physical therapy from Northern Arizona University, and runs his own in-person and online sports medicine and performance business, 3CB Performance, in West LA and Valencia, CA in which he further combines his movement expertise and fitness training. He also works at a hospital — giving him experience with patients in the immediate healthcare setting and neurological patients (post stroke, post brain injury) — and has been practicing for 4 years. Brar is additionally training at UCLA’s mindful awareness research center (MARC), has a background in youth basketball coaching and analyzes the Lakers from a medical and skills perspective for Silver Screen and Roll and on his own YouTube Channel. You can follow him on Twitter at @3cbPerformance.