The Los Angeles Lakers probably have the most coveted head coaching position available in the NBA following Phil Jackson’s retirement last week, but ESPN’s Marc Stein already has sources that say L.A. is “very interested” in Rick Adelman.
Adelman, recently let go by the Houston Rockets despite having the eighth-most wins by an NBA head coach in his career, is intriguing to the Lakers due to his reputation for thriving with veteran teams and the similarities between Adelman’s corner offense and Jackson’s triangle offense, according to Stein.
It probably is also helpful that Adelman hasn’t had a losing year in the past 12 seasons he’s coached in the NBA, though he hasn’t led a team to the NBA Finals since the 1991-92 season with the Portland Trail Blazers. Adelman also has local ties as he was born in Lynwood, went to high school in Downey and went to college at Loyola Marymount.
According to the story, the decision for ultimately choosing the next Lakers head coach goes through Jim Buss, Jerry Buss and Mitch Kupchak — in that order — as ESPN’s J.A. Adande reported.