The Lakers are continuing their search for a new head coach by interviewing J.B. Bickerstaff for the open position, reports Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times. According to Turner, Bickerstaff’s meeting with the Lakers will happen on Friday at the team’s practice facility in El Segundo.
Bickerstaff will become the second candidate to interview for the job since negotiations between Tyronn Lue and the Lakers fell apart, joining Frank Vogel, who met with the club on Thursday.
[RELATED: 2019 NBA Head Coaching Search Tracker]
As has been the case for most of L.A.’s head coaching interviews, a number of executives will be in attendance. Lakers owner Jeanie Buss, general manager Rob Pelinka, co-owners Joey Buss and Jesse Buss, president of business operations Tim Harris, director of special projects Linda Rambis, and senior advisor Kurt Rambis will all meet with Bickerstaff, says Turner.
Bickerstaff, who was dismissed by the Grizzlies at season’s end after nearly two full seasons at the helm in Memphis, has also interviewed with the Cavaliers this spring.
The Lakers’ list of new candidates since failing to lock up Lue now features four former head coaches, including two who used to coach in Memphis. Besides Bickerstaff and Vogel, L.A. is also said to have interest in Mike Woodson and Lionel Hollins, who had three stints as the Grizzlies’ head coach in Vancouver and Memphis, most recently from 2009-13.
His about someone like Messina? Or Dave Joerger? Nope just keep interviewing mediocre coaches
How*
I mean, why not go full Dolan and interview Isiah Thomas for head coach?
I’m curious because how is Bickerstaff supposed to coach LeBron James? Any coach you hire better have a resume of winning to back them up because LeBron never respected Walton because Walton was a below average NBA player and had no track record of winning.
I don’t understand why they don’t give Jeff Van Gundy an interview, he proved he could take a team to the Finals 1999 and did it with an 8th seed Knicks team. I like his insight for the game and he would not put up with LeBron’s BS.
IDK about not respecting Walton, but he would have a reason to dislike Walton. Walton’s offense was pretty much the opposite of what James would want if he was taking 2018/19 seriously from the start… Which I don’t think he did, back in summer 2018 after an exhausting final Cavs year.
Posters are underrating JB Bickerstaff possibly to take shots at Lakers mgmt… This may dissuade future applicants if a national trend is being mirrored.
Vogel is a good hire though.
Bickerstaff is a fine coach – a lot of the names being mentioned are just fine. The problem is that NBA players just don’t respect coaches who never played in the league as much as those who did…particularly LeBron (but not just him – lots of guys feel this way).
If the Lakers hire a coach who never played in the NBA and won something, it better be someone with a championship under their belt. Otherwise, it will be a bad hire.
Hence my joke about Isiah…
The Lakers are such a train wreck that Phil Jackson should be coach.
The Mummy Returns!!
Phil
This is a weird time we live in. With each passing moment the Clippers become the premier team in LA and the Lakers become a punch line. They might as well just hire Lavar Ball!
Until they actually get a big free agent and the Lakers strike out in FA thats false. Ik the narrative is they get KD, Jimmy Butler, Kawhai, AD and Klay but lets hold off until it happens
Uh the narrative has been the Lakers getting all those guys, people are only saying the clippers get these guys now because the Lakers are such a joke and media likes to pretend all free agents are going to new York or Los Angeles.
The Clippers have a lot of banners to hang before they are more important than the Lakers
Tomorrow they’ll be interviewing Reggie Theus
Mind blowing the people are interested in but won’t interview Mark Jackson.
I’ve been wondering this for quite a while now too
He’s not that good. Too binary in thinking… He doesn’t like gray areas, which means he won’t appreciate contigencies.
Yup.
Mark Jackson is a, my way or the highway, type of coach. He and James would go at it within a week and one of them would say it’s me or him…then Jackson would get fired. That scenario is painfully obvious.
Why not Becky Hammon? No one from the Popovich coaching tree would be as terrible as any of these re-treads they’re bringing in — and she may even be really good.
The Cavs, who would be interested in Hammon, said she wasn’t the next up from that staff and a couple others from the Spurs were scheduled instead… Jordi Fernendez, Denver, same boat… believe it or not!
If you thought the Lue situation blew up Lakers twitter i cant even imagine what hiring her would do
I’ve been thinking Pop is prepping her for thr SAS job. As he’s signed on for 3 more years I believe this even more.
Dr. Jerry cannot be happy…
lmao …. now I am starting to feel bad for lakers fans.
Hey miss buss AKA Jim buss 2.0 sell the team!
Queenie bust sucks! We’re worst now when Jim buss was running the Lakers!
But it’s entertaining! And I think it will turn out better… But turning out with a title… That will be hard.
The cars just keep coming off the tracks with the Train Wreck that is the Lakers
All the Lakers haters are sooo boring!!!