The Los Angeles Lakers have made it clear there’s no rush in hiring the next head coach of the storied franchise. With the team missing the mark on Mike Brown and Mike D’Antoni, Mitch Kupchak and company want to make sure they have the right man for the job in what will likely be the final two years of Kobe Bryant’s career.
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One name that continues to get mentioned as a candidate for the head coaching vacancy in Los Angeles is former Laker Derek Fisher. Although Fisher has no coaching experience and is still currently playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder, the five-time NBA champion’s name continues to be mentioned as an option for the Lakers.
Although Fisher is considered a candidate at this point in time, Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding reports it is not expected that he’ll be the next head coach of the Lakers:
Regarding Derek Fisher, certainly a more novel option given his lack of coaching experience, two people told me on Tuesday not to expect him to become the next Lakers head coach, which is no surprise. Fisher has always been unsure about the grinding life of a coach.
Currently, the frontrunner for the coaching vacancy in Los Angeles appears to be another former player in Byron Scott. The team has only interviewed a handful of candidates thus far with Scott being one of the few that had Jim Buss in the interview along with Kupchak.
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As for Fisher, there’s no telling the direction he’ll take once the season is over for the Thunder. The New York Knicks have also expressed interest in talking with Fisher in an attempt to reunite him with Phil Jackson.
Both the Knicks and Lakers want to turn things around quickly, but are realistic in terms of knowing that it is a process. The next head coach for both teams could have little to no experience as a head coach with Fisher definitely getting some consideration.
The Lakers prefer the next coach of the team have experience, but are keeping their options open.
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