Buss: Lakers very close to finalizing coaching candidates

Team owner Jerry Buss said the Lakers are "very close" to finalizing a list of candidates to replace the retiring Phil Jackson as coach. Buss was short on providing specifics about when a new coach would be hired, but he said during an interview on Sirius/XM Radio, "I don't know exactly when, but a week is a long time. I should say that."

Buss and his son, Jim, met last week with GM Mitch Kupchak to compile a list of candidates, which is believed to include Rick Adelman, Mike Brown, Mike Dunleavy, Jeff Van Gundy and current Lakers assistant Brian Shaw.

Several players, including Kobe Bryant, have lobbied openly for Shaw.

"Obviously, we have to select somebody who has a reputation that the players would be happy with," Buss said. "But to ask a direct player to select a particular coach, that's general manager territory. That's out of the player domain."