The next coaching hire the Lakers make is a critical one for the future of the franchise, after the last two choices in Mike Brown and Mike D’Antoni didn’t work out, each for a variety of very specific reasons.
It makes sense, then, that L.A. would take its time with the search, and interview as many candidates as possible in order to make the right decision this time around.
Kurt Rambis was the latest to interview with the Lakers brain trust, with more meetings scheduled for later this week.
From Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times:The Lakers continue interviewing players and coaches from their past, meeting with Kurt Rambis for their coaching vacancy.
Rambis, 56, was an assistant last season under Mike D’Antoni, who resigned from the team four weeks ago.
The Lakers have now interviewed Rambis, Byron Scott and Mike Dunleavy, and plan to meet with Alvin Gentry on Wednesday and Lionel Hollins on Thursday.
The team remains on a slow march toward a replacement for D’Antoni and might eventually sit down with about 10 candidates.
Of the candidates listed, I don’t see Rambis or Scott as a fit at all. Each has proven to be stubborn during their previous head coaching opportunities, with Scott’s act having eventually worn thin with three separate teams and their respective best players.
Gentry strikes me as the best choice from this list, given his offensive credentials, as well as a relationship with Kobe Bryant that goes back many years. Hollins may be the best overall coach of the group, but he wouldn’t appear to have the right temperament to deal with the pressures associated with coaching in a major market like Los Angeles.
The fact that the team is looking at veteran head coaches to fill the vacancy is good news for Lakers fans, a sign that Mitch Kupchak likely is firm in his belief that the rebuilding process will happen quickly, with star talent coming either through trades or free agency that would require experienced leadership to produce the desired results.
If Kupchak fails in that effort, however, it will put whomever is hired in the very difficult position of trying to defend the job he’s doing, under the weight of impossibly high expectations.
