Forty-five days and counting—the Los Angeles Lakers’ search for the organization’s next head coach remains unfulfilled.
Vacant since Mike D’Antoni resigned on April 30, the NBA’s most illustrious franchise has undergone a long, slow and methodical process in locating its next hardwood general.
Team governor Jeanie Buss and executives Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak have by all outward appearances remained patient in their quest. They have stood pat as the Detroit Pistons (Stan Van Gundy), Golden State Warriors (Steve Kerr), Minnesota Timberwolves (Flip Saunders), Utah Jazz (Quin Snyder) and New York Knicks (Derek Fisher) have each found their man.
Only the Cleveland Cavaliers find themselves in a similar predicament.
That said, neglecting to pull the trigger hasn’t entailed a period of total inactivity, either.
The Lakers have interviewed five candidates over the past six weeks, according to Mike Bresnahan and Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. Each potential successor brings past head coaching experience, while all but one has a connection with either the Lakers or greater Los Angeles area.
Lionel Hollins—the lone “outlier”—guided the Memphis Grizzlies to three straight playoff appearances between 2010-2013. His defensive-minded, no-nonsense approach even produced an appearance in the Western Conference Finals last year.
Disagreement with management over analytics and general coaching philosophy essentially led to his abrupt and otherwise undeserving dismissal. Hollins has remained unemployed ever since.
Mike Dunleavy, meanwhile, is the most experienced of the interviewed bunch. His 17 years include 613 wins, another 38 in the playoffs and, most notably, two with the Lakers.
He oversaw the 1990-1991 LA crew that made it all the way to the Finals—during his very first year on the job, no less.
But unlike his incredibly successful year one, his final seven seasons as coach and general manager of the Los Angeles Clippers featured just one postseason appearance.
Now, per Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck, a clear top-three stands above the rest.
Byron Scott suited up for 11 seasons and won three championships as a shooting guard for the Lakers in the 80s and 90s. Then, just four years after retiring as a player, he pushed the New Jersey Nets to two straight NBA Finals as a coach in 2001 and 2002.
Unfortunately, his next 10 years with the Nets, New Orleans Hornets and Cavaliers included just two playoff-worthy campaigns combined.
Coming in second among this triumvirate is Alvin Gentry. The basketball lifer has spent the past 25 years as a member of the NBA coaching ranks. He led the Phoenix Suns to the conference finals in 2010 and most recently served as associate head coach under Doc Rivers with the Clippers from 2013-2014.
Gentry is known as a players’ coach and has gleaned his hardwood expertise under such legends as Larry Brown and Gregg Popovich.
Finally, holding down the top spot is a former glasses-sporting, moustache-rocking fan-favorite of the Purple and Gold.
Kurt Rambis overachieved his way to four championships in nine seasons as a gritty power forward for the Lakers (1981-1988; 1993-1995). He also won two additional titles as an assistant in 2002 and 2009.
All told, “Rambo” has been associated with this historic franchise for more than two decades. Pegging him as the leading successor to D’Antoni surely has its merits.
As things currently stand, Scott is the lone candidate who has received a second interview with LA, per Chuck Myron of HoopsRumors.com. Gentry has done the same with Cleveland, while Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio reports that both the Lakers and Cavs have reached out to Indiana Pacers assistant Nate McMillan.
Candidates aplenty—it’s certainly debatable whether the Lakers front office has been overly diligent up to this point.
Just don’t be surprised if either one day, or another 45, transpires before the Buss family ultimately signs off on the next hiring.
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