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Lakers Rumors: LA Gets Permission to Interview Warriors' Ron Adams for Staff
June 22, 2019
The Los Angeles Lakers have received permission from the Golden State Warriors to interview assistant coach Ron Adams for a position on L.A. head coach Frank Vogel's staff, according to Ohm Youngmisuk and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com.
Per Youngmisuk, Adams' interest in joining the Lakers is unknown, but the Lakers could make their pitch stronger with a "significant financial offer."
The 71-year-old Adams has coached on the collegiate and professional levels since 1969.
He has been on Steve Kerr's Golden State staff since 2014, and Golden State has won five Western Conference titles and three NBA championships during that span.
Adams was also a head coach for Fresno Pacific of the NAIA from 1972 to 1975 and Fresno State from 1986 to 1990.
Adams' impact on the Warriors' championship run can't be understated, nor can the Association's love for his work.
He has been voted as the NBA's best assistant coach in an annual NBA.com survey of league general managers for the past four years.
Furthermore, Adams has expertly led the Warriors' defensive game-planning efforts, to the point where Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle called him Golden State's "defensive mastermind."
Marcus Thompson, then of the Bay Area News Group, also listed Adams as one of 10 reasons the Warriors became an elite defensive team in a June 2017 piece:
"Adding Adams, a reputed defensive wizard, graduated the Warriors to advanced calculus level on defense. With Adams’ genius in tow, defense went from a strength of the Warriors to an expertise. The schemes and scouting report helped players like [Stephen Curry] and [Harrison Barnes] maximize what they can do individually on defense. The Warriors leaned more on switching and could execute complex strategy when necessary, such as having Bogut defend Memphis guard Tony Allen in 2015, backed by complicated rotations that stymied the Grizzlies."
Warriors general manager Bob Myers also called Adams "the aficionado of defense."
Golden State's defensive-efficiency rankings, per ESPN.com, have been first, fourth, second, eighth and 10th over the past five seasons.
Simply put, the Warriors' loss would be the Lakers' significant gain if Adams were to depart.
Los Angeles was a mediocre 15th in defensive efficiency last season. That number figures to go up with six-time All-Star Anthony Davis now in the mix, but adding Adams would make Los Angeles a more formidable threat on that end.