The Los Angeles Lakers fired Darvin Ham after he had been their head coach for two seasons on May 3, and their search for a new head coach has gradually picked up in recent days.
Last week, they got permission to interview several candidates who are currently assistant coaches with other teams. Those candidates include James Borrego, Sam Cassell, David Adelman and Micah Nori.
According to a report in The Athletic on Tuesday, Los Angeles has now completed interviews with Borrego and Cassell, as well as former NBA sharpshooter JJ Redick.
Via The Athletic:
“The Los Angeles Lakers have begun interviewing candidates for their next coach, according to league sources not authorized to speak publicly on the matter,” wrote Jovan Buha and Shams Charania.
“The Lakers have held formal meetings with JJ Redick, New Orleans Pelicans associate head coach James Borrego and Boston Celtics assistant coach Sam Cassell over the past several days, according to those sources.”
The team will also interview a few other assistants soon.
“Team officials plan to meet with Denver Nuggets assistant coach David Adelman, Minnesota Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori and Miami Heat assistant Chris Quinn as they do their due diligence on the candidate pool.”
Borrego is an interesting assistant, as he has an existing relationship with Anthony Davis that they forged when Borrego was an assistant coach with the New Orleans Pelicans.
“I think when you’re the Lakers, you have to look into the future,” said Charania. “Anthony Davis is someone that’s gonna outlast likely LeBron James as a Laker, he’s 31 years old in the prime of his career, and how do you make a hire that potentially does fit AD better, involving him in the coaching search process? And he has built a rapport with James Borrego, they overlapped a little bit in New Orleans.”
Meanwhile, Redick is the one Lakers candidate who has everyone talking. While he has a sharp mind for the game of basketball, he has no coaching experience of any kind at either the pro or college level.
The perception, whether it is true or false, is that he’s a leading candidate because of his friendship with James. The two co-host the “Mind the Game” podcast, and Redick is also a member of ESPN’s NBA broadcast crew.
Story originally appeared on LeBron Wire
