Lakers interview Byron Scott for head coaching position

Posted on May 22, 2014 by Mark Medina

Has a long history with the Lakers, playing for them for 10 consecutive seasons (1983-93) and winning three NBA titles. After retiring form professional basketball in 1998, Scott began his coaching career as an assistant with the Sacramento Kings. He has been a head coach with New Jersey (2000-04), New Orleans (2004-09) and Cleveland (2010-13). He has an overall record of 416-521 (.444) and went 33-24 (.579) in the playoffs. Turned 53 in March. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

After once guiding them during the “Showtime Era,” Byron Scott could guide the Lakers through their current rebuilding era.

Scott interviewed with both Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak and vice president of basketball operations Jim Buss on Tuesday, a development was first reported by ESPN.

“I had a great time talking with those guys,” Scott said on SiriusXM NBA Radio with hosts Frank Isola and Malik Rose. “Obviously I go way back with Mitch. We were teammates for a while and won a couple of championships together, so it was good. That’s basically all I can tell you. It was good, I had a lot of fun talking to them. Hopefully we’ll be talking again soon and we’ll see what happens.”

Former Lakers and Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy interviewed with the Lakers on Wednesday, according to a league source. But his meeting was only with Kupchak, and not Buss.

In addition to spending 10 of his 14-year NBA career with the Lakers, Scott had head-coaching stints with the New Jersey Nets, New Orleans Hornets and Cleveland Cavaliers. He was fired last year after the Cavaliers lost 16 of their final 18 games to finish at 24-58, the third-worst record in the NBA. But Scott led the Nets to two NBA Finals appearances in 2002 and 2003 before losing to the Lakers and San Antonio Spurs in subsequent years and was also named the NBA’s Coach of the Year for guiding the Hornets into the playoffs for the 2007-08 season.

Scott is considered close with Kobe Bryant after providing a mentor role for the Lakers’ star during his rookie season in the 1996-97 campaign.

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Source: Mike Dunleavy interviewed with Lakers for coaching job

Posted on May 21, 2014 by Mark Medina

Former Lakers and Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy met with Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak for a few hours on Wednesday morning to discuss the team’s vacant head-coaching position, according to a league source familiar with the situation.

Yahoo! Sports first reported this development.

Kupchak did not share specific names, but he revealed in a conference call that he started interviewing candidates after the Lakers learned on Tuesday they would have the seventh overall pick in next month’s NBA draft. He added that it is unlikely the Lakers would hire a coach within the next two or three weeks.

Dunleavy also interviewed with the Lakers when they looked to replace Mike Brown following a 1-4 start in the 2012-13 season along with Phil Jackson and Mike D’Antoni. The Lakers chose D’Antoni, who resigned about three weeks ago.

Dunleavy’s 17-year career as an NBA head coach entailed coaching both the Lakers (1990-92) and Clippers (2003-10). Dunleavy has also coached the Milwaukee Bucks and Portland Trail Blazers. In his most recent head coaching stop, Dunleavy resigned from the Clippers during the 2010 season. Dunleavy coached the Lakers following Pat Riley’s firing and led them to the 1991 NBA Finals before losing to the Chicago Bulls in five games. The following season entailed some adversity, finishing with a 43-39 record, after Magic Johnson abruptly retired amid announcing he was HIV positive. Dunleavy guided the Clippers to a playoff appearance in the 2005-06 campaign before resigning in 2010.

Dunleavy’s stints with the Milwaukee Bucks (1992-96) and Portland Trail Blazers (1997-2001) entailed seven playoff appearances, including Portland appearing in a seven-game Western Conference Finals series they lost to the Lakers in 2000. That season, Dunleavy won NBA Coach of the Year.

Dunleavy is known to have a methodical albeit creative offensive playbook that could bode well for a veteran-laden team led by Kobe Bryant. He actually considered signing with the Clippers as a free agent in 2004 when Dunleavy coached there.

Follow L.A. Daily News Lakers beat writer Mark Medina on Twitter and on Facebook. E-mail him at mark.medina@langnews.com

Source: Kevin Ollie not interested in NBA team that contacted him

Posted on May 17, 2014 by Mark Medina

Connecticut head coach Kevin Ollie runs practice for the team’s NCAA Final Four tournament college basketball semifinal game Friday, April 4, 2014, in Dallas. Connecticut plays Florida on Saturday, April 5, 2014. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Within the next 48 hours, UConn coach Kevin Ollie plans to inform an undisclosed NBA team that has expressed interest that the feeling is not mutual, according to a league source familiar with his thinking.

It is not clear which NBA team has reached out to Ollie, who guided the Huskies to the 2014- NCAA men’s basketball national championship. But according to the source, the teams are neither the Lakers nor the New York Knicks. The Utah Jazz, Minnesota Timberwolves and Cleveland Cavaliers also have head coaching vacancies.

“He never got to first base with any NBA team,” the source said.

Ollie and UConn have been negotiating for an extension that would keep him beyond his current contract that runs through the 2017-18 season, according to league sources. He made about $1.4 million, which included bonuses, and UConn’s new deal is hovering about or even above the $3 million range. Sources both familiar with Ollie and the Huskies program expect a resolution soon, although it is not clear when.

If things get worked out by UConn, he would stay with UConn,” a league source said about Ollie.

The Lakers consider Ollie one of many head coaching candidates to replace Mike D’Antoni after resigning about three weeks ago. But the Lakers are not believed to have reached out to any candidates. They are expected to make more progression with their coaching search after the NBA draft lottery on Tuesday in New York where the Lakers will learn where they will pick in the first round.

After finishing with a 27-55 record, the sixth worst in the NBA, the Lakers’ draft selection will likely fall either to sixth (43.9 percent) or seventh (30.5 percent). The Lakers have a 21.5 percent chance of climbing toward a top-three pick and have slim odds of dropping either to eight (4 percent) or nine (.1 percent).

Ollie has sparked buzz among NBA circles after guiding the Huskies to the 2014 NCAA men’s basketball tournament. During this time, Ollie has remained willing to listen to what any NBA team may offer, but has been leaning toward staying with UConn.

“People have called and asked if I’m interested, and like I always say, ‘I’m here with UConn right now and trying to work things out with our great university,’ ” Ollie said on Friday, according to the Hartford Courant. “I’m UConn-made and I want to be here for a long time. But those guys are persistent and they keep calling no matter what I say, that’s just part of the success you’ve had, the success the university has had.”

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Lakers coaching search: George Karl interested in coaching Lakers

Posted on May 7, 2014 by Mark Medina

Veteran NBA head coach who in 2010 became only the seventh in NBA history to win 1,000 games. His stops have been in Cleveland, Golden State, Seattle, Milwaukee and Denver for an overall record of 1,1131-756 (.599) in the regular season and 80-105 (.432) in the playoffs. Was named NBA Coach of the Year after leading Denver to a 57-25 record in 2013, but was fired after a first-round exit in the playoffs. Will turn 62 in May. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

George Karl has persistently taken calls lately, answering endless questions about his interest level in various NBA head-coaching vacancies.

So it sounds like Karl has a flurry of job interviews lined up, right? Not exactly.

“It is ringing, but I think most of the ringing is done now by the media,” Karl said Wednesday on an appearance with SiriusXM NBA Radio hosted by former Lakers forward Rick Fox and Jared Greenberg. “The teams right now have a process and some of the teams haven’t gotten into the process at a high level.”
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Sources: Kevin Ollie, UConn in beginning stages of contract discussions

Posted on May 2, 2014 by Mark Medina

In only his second season as a head coach, he led the University of Connecticut to the NCAA Championship on April 5 with a 60-54 victory over Kentucky. The Huskies went 32-8 after a 20-10 first season under Ollie, who played at UConn from 1991-95 before a 13-year NBA career. Ollie, who graduated from Crenshaw High, will turn 41 in December. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Although he hasn’t ruled out any potential coaching offers, Connecticut coach Kevin Ollie and school officials are at the beginning stages of negotiating a new contract, according to league sources familiar with the situation.

These developments were first reported by Yahoo! Sports.

After guiding the Huskies to the 2014 national championship in only his second year as the team’s head coach, Ollie is expected to spark a flurry of interest should NBA teams make any coaching stages. The Lakers consider him as a candidate, but have not reached out to him yet, according to league sources.

Ollie’s current contract runs through the 2017-18 season, but both Ollie and the Huskies are mindful of his increased market value stemmed from UCONN’s success and expected heightened NBA interest. It remains to be seen when or if any clarity surrounding this issue is taking place.

Ollie has spent recent days traveling on the recruiting trail, according to league sources. There is hope for a relatively quick resolution considering the urgency in the Huskies wanted to secure what appears to be an elite college basketball coach after guiding them to a 52-18 through two seasons. But Ollie also appears to have leverage considering the inevitable outside interest.

As reported in Thursday’s editions of this newspaper, Ollie plans to entertain the Lakers’ likely pitch with some uncertainty.

“He’ll listen, but he’s real committed to his alma mater,” said a person familiar with Ollie’s thinking.

Ollie remains an intriguing option for reasons beyond guiding the seventh-seeded Huskies to a national championship in only his second season as head coach and growing up in Los Angeles as a former Crenshaw High standout.

Ollie had a non-descript 13-year NBA career, but he spent his final season in 2009-10 with Oklahoma City where star Kevin Durant told ESPN’s Bill Simmons that Ollie became a “game changer” in bolstering the organization’s culture from a 23-win record in 2008-209 toward a 50-win season and a first-round playoff appearance against the Lakers in 2009-10. Durant, who will likely become this season’s league MVP, will become a free agent in 2016.

UConn coach Kevin Ollie’s rise to the top is a win for Los Angeles community

Follow L.A. Daily News Lakers beat writer Mark Medina on Twitter and on Facebook. E-mail him at mark.medina@langnews.com

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Category Archives: Lakers coaching search

Lakers interview Byron Scott for head coaching position

Source: Mike Dunleavy interviewed with Lakers for coaching job

Source: Kevin Ollie not interested in NBA team that contacted him

Lakers coaching search: George Karl interested in coaching Lakers

Sources: Kevin Ollie, UConn in beginning stages of contract discussions