Lakers’ Lonzo Ball Endorses Earl Watson to Take Over as UCLA Head Coach

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Los Angeles Lakers point guard Lonzo Ball stumped Wednesday for Earl Watson to become the next UCLA Bruins men’s basketball head coach.

“I’d like to see [Watson] get the job,” the former Bruins guard said, per the Los Angeles Times‘ Tania Ganguli.

According to Ganguli, Ball likes the fact Watson both played and coached in the NBA and that Watson has ties to the program from his days as a star guard for the Bruins.

UCLA announced Monday it had fired Steve Alford following a 7-6 start to the 2018-19 season. In what proved to be Alford’s last game, the Bruins lost 73-58 at home to Liberty.

Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv reported Watson was among the candidates in the hunt to succeed Alford, with one source telling Zagoria that the 2001 alum “has been lobbying for the job all year.”

The Undefeated’s Marc J. Spears echoed that report, adding Watson “connects well with young players, has strong AAU ties,” which would help him were he to coach UCLA.

Watson coached the Phoenix Suns for parts of three seasons. He replaced Jeff Hornacek midway through the 2015-16 season and remained in that role until the Suns fired him three games into the 2017-18 campaign. Phoenix was 33-85 under his watch.

It’s unfair to hold the Suns’ dreadful record against Watson too much, though. The franchise has long been a mess both on the court and in the front office. The Suns fired general manager Ryan McDonough in October, with the regular season starting in eight days.

Watson was an assistant for only two seasons—one year with the Suns and one year with the Austin Spurs of the then-D-League—before taking over for Hornacek. He might benefit from moving down to the college ranks.

Ball’s comments illustrate how much respect the 39-year-old would immediately command at UCLA as well. A not insignificant chunk of the Bruins fanbase never warmed to Alford. The school would avoid making a similar mistake by targeting a familiar face such as Watson.