Mike Brown firing: Lakers would be 'negligent' to ignore Phil Jackson, says Kupchak

Los Angeles Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said on Friday said the Lakers would look at NBA assistant coaches to replace the fired Mike Brown, but the far more likely next Lakers head coach would be an experienced head coach currently out of work. The Lakers are in the process of putting together their list, which includes former Lakers head coach Phil Jackson.

"The sooner the better. We don't have a timetable. Quite frankly, because this happened so quickly," Kupchak said. "We didn't even begin a search. But we do have a list.

"When there is a coach like Phil Jackson, one of the all-time greats, and he's not coaching, you'd be negligent not to reach out to him," Kupchak said.

Kupchak said that the firing of Brown was sealed after the 95-86 loss to the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night. The team simply wasn't improving, and the decision was made to let Brown go.

"You could argue that part of this was last season, that part of this was the preseason. After five games, we just felt that we weren't winning. We weren't seeing improvement, and we made a decision," Kupchak said at the Lakers' press conference to formally announce Brown's dismissal. "With this team we didn't want to wait three months."

The Lakers were 0-8 in the preseason, and started 1-4, the worst start since the 1993-1994 season.

"We're not looking five to 10 years down the road. This team was built to contend this year," Kupchak said.