Could be because he’s white. But it might be that the Lakers think they can keep LeBron if they hire his friend as the coach. That said, it doesn’t seem enough to persuade LeBron to stay if he gets a better deal elsewhere. Who knows?

I remember that David Thompson insisted that for an NBA team to sign him, the team would also needed to sign Monte Towe—a white guy and friend he played with in college. Towe was signed along with Thompson. The kicker is that, although Towe played his heart out, he was way too short for the NBA.