It sounds like Lakers fans hoping for a splashy coaching hire might just get their wish. Los Angeles brass reportedly wants to interview North Carolina head coach Roy Williams, who was on their wishlist ten years ago after Phil Jackson‘s first departure. The latest out of L.A..
- Pau Gasol butted heads with Mike D’Antoni quite a bit over the last two years, but it sounds like the coach’s departure won’t guarantee his return to the Lakers. “Mike leaving was not the be-all and end-all, but it is another factor,” Gasol told Spanish site Marca.com (h/t to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News). “What is certain is that we are without a coach and I say ‘we’ because I’m still thinking of myself as a Lakers player.”
- Contrary to what has been reported by some, Medina hears (on Twitter) that the Lakers have yet to contact Kevin Ollie and no meeting has been planned yet.
- Medina runs down five qualities that the Lakers’ next head coach will need to have. First and foremost, the Lakers’ next coach will need to figure out how to bolster the club’s defense. There’s no question that defense took a backseat in L.A. during D’Antoni’s tenure. The Lakers ranked near the bottom in nearly every defensive category last season, including 29th in total team defense at 109.2 points allowed per game.