Coming off of the worst season in franchise history under coach Mike D'Antoni, Los Angeles Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak has begun the process of interviewing coaching candidates following D'Antoni's resignation, but the GM is in no rush to make a hire.
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Kupchak has taken a slow and steady approach to hiring a new coach while rumors continue to swirl as to who the team will actually bring into the fold.
"I'm sure names will come out in the next couple of days, but we've started our process and we intend to continue the process in terms of talking to potential coaches. Whether they're informal or formal interviews, we'll do both," Kupchak said Wednesday via ESPN. "I would not anticipate hiring a coach in the next two to three weeks."
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D'Antoni resigned on April 30 after the team was unwilling to pick up his 2015-16 option along with bringing him back for one more year this season. D'Antoni didn't want to face constant questions about his job status next year as he did this season when the injury-riddled Lakers finished a franchise-worst 27-55 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2005.
Kupchak started the search for a new coach by interviewing Mike Dunleavy Sr., who has 17 years of coaching experience with the Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks, Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Clippers.
The Lakers then interviewed former Los Angeles player Byron Scott on Tuesday for over two hours and have been linked to Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau while other names have been rumored to have interest from the team.
Kupchak admitted that the team hasn't ruled out hiring a current NBA coach to guide the Lakers.
"Why wouldn't it be a possibility? We don't have a timeline," Kupchak told ESPN about hiring other coaches. "If we had a timeline for tomorrow or Friday or the weekend, then I would say that's remote, but this is going to go on at least two to three weeks. I'm not anticipating [hiring a current NBA head coach] being a part of the process, but we'll just monitor how it plays out with the teams that are out there and see what the playing field provides and make decisions accordingly."
Kupchak said he plans on bringing candidates in for an initial interview but he won't make a decision regarding a new coach until he meets with them a second time. The GM described the coaching search as just being in the beginning stages.
Kupchak publicly said that star player Kobe Bryant wouldn't have a say in the next coach, but he did admit that he'll take into account Bryant's feelings when he selects the new leader of the team.
"We have a player on our team who is proven in this league offensively that he can score," Kupchak said, according to ESPN. "That certainly is a consideration; obviously I'm talking about Kobe. He's under contract for two more years, and we think he's a very integral part of this team and we have to make sure whoever we hire as the coach really gets the most productivity out of him."
It remains to be seen in what direction Kupchak and the Lakers will go, but over three weeks after D'Antoni's resignation, the lengthy process of finding a new coach has just begun in Los Angeles.
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