When the injured star player is tweeting a thank you note to a rival for beating his team by 48 points, the star player's head coach can't be too comfortable about his job security.
Neither can giving up 134 points in a loss the next night for a grand total of 276 points allowed in back-to-back losses.
ESPN.com reported Friday that Los Angeles Lakers general manager met separately with executive vice president of player personnel Jim Buss and coach Mike D'Antoni after the Lakers' historic 142-94 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday night.
According to ESPN, D'Antoni couldn't remember specifics of the meeting with Kupchak, but it's probably a 48 hours that Kupchak won't soon forget after the Denver Nuggets defeated the Lakers 134-126 in Denver on Friday night.
In a tweet after the loss to the Clippers, sidelined Laker Kobe Bryant thanked the crosstown rivals for their humiliation of his teammates, the worst loss in the Lakers' history.
From @kobebryant: "Misery = Motivation #thanku #urwelcome."
The problem for Kobe and the Lakers is that Kobe no longer is in his prime to use that motivation to the fullest, and his teammates are not nearly talented enough to pick up the slack.
And that had Kupchak concerned enough to arrange meetings with Buss and D'Antoni.
"We just went over stuff and said, 'Well, we didn't play very well,' " D'Antoni said, according to ESPN. "I don't remember, to be honest with you. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary other than just talking about different performances and that's about it."
A source told ESPN that the loss to the Clippers prompted Kupchak to communicate with the organization on what could be done to get the team turned around. The source said a coaching change was not at the forefront of discussions.
Surrendering 134 points the day after the disaster, however, could help change that viewpoint. The Lakers showed some fight in the fourth quarter after giving up 110 points though the first three quarters, but when a storied franchise such as the Lakers look for moral victories, a major shakeup within the organization would not be far-fetched.
Should Mike D'Antoni keep his job? Tell us @SportsWN
© Copyright 2024 Sports World News, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
