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Kupchak: Lakers hope to hire coach soon The Lakers hope to hire a new coach within a couple of weeks, with general manager Mitch Kupchak saying he plans to interview more than one candidate and fewer than 10.
Former Houston Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich was reportedly en route to Los Angeles late Monday for an interview.
"We are in the process of trying to narrow down the coaching candidates and select a coach for this team," Kupchak said. "I would hope this would happen sooner than later.
"I can't say that could happen in a day or two. That probably means a couple weeks. We don't want this to linger into July or August."
Kupchak said he believes the Lakers will be in position to win next season although Kobe Bryant is an unrestricted free agent who may or may not be back and Shaquille O'Neal has requested a trade.
"I don't think we want to take the chance that we're going to experiment with an unproven coach," Kupchak said. "I'm not ruling out the possibility that our coach could be an assistant coach on our team or another team.
Tomjanovich, 55, coached the Rockets to championships in 1994 and 1995. He left as coach following the 2002-2003 season after 33 years with the organization.
After fighting bladder cancer, Tomjanovich is reportedly in good health.
Tomjanovich's business manager, Jesse Brown, wouldn't comment Monday.
The Lakers announced Friday that Phil Jackson would not return next season. On that same day, Bryant opted out of his contract and O'Neal publicly demanded a trade.
Kupchak also said he hoped to have conversations soon with O'Neal's representatives.
"I'm eager to hear what they have to say, and we'll take it from there." |
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