Rumor Mill: Spurs’ Assistant Ettore Messina To Coach Lakers?

With the firing of Byron Scott from the Los Angeles Lakers recently, Spurs Assistant Ettore Messina is a likely choice for their Head Coaching vacancy.
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When the Spurs hired Ettore Messina as the teams lead assistant to Gregg Popovich, it gave the Spurs another advantage over the league. Messina is a great basketball coach. He is very intelligent and has an eye for talent–which makes him a perfect fit for San Antonio. His name has been brought up for the Brooklyn Nets job, where newly appointed General Manager Sean Marks resides now.
Messina is well known by the Lakers after working with them for a season as the team’s consultant. Messina is not the only name being mentioned for the Lakers job. Luke Walton, the Golden State Warriors assistant, made his name by stepping in and taking over the head coaching role when Steve Kerr was sidelined.
Many observers have Messina and Walton ranked among the top two contenders to replace Byron Scott with the Lakers.
Matt Moore of CBSSports.com echoed on what many are saying about Messina around the league:
“Someone who’s available now is Messina, who comes in with a wealth of international experience and what is considered a brilliant basketball mind. Think of him like David Blatt, only with a better resume and none of the attitude.
“Messina would be a home run choice for the Lakers, someone who can remake the internal culture and help make youngsters better. His name brand value may not be high enough, however.”
There is no question that Messina will be leading his own team in the NBA someday. With his already high basketball intelligence and being alongside Popovich and learning from him, someone will truly be happy to welcome him to their ball club.
(H/T SpursNation.Com)