I'm sorry I should of said interested on the title but I had to act fast to break the news. First time baby!!! lol The Los Angeles Lakers' search for Phil Jackson's replacement is just beginning, but NBA coaching sources on Thursday described the Lakers as "very interested" in Rick Adelman as a candidate for the position. Lakers assistant coach Brian Shaw has the public endorsement of Kobe Bryant and is regarded as by far the strongest in-house candidate for the position. Yet sources say Lakers officials are intrigued by the Adelman option, not only because of his history of success in Portland, Sacramento and Houston but also his reputation for thriving with veteran teams and the similarities between Adelman's "corner" offense and Jackson's "triangle" offense. More on the Lakers For more news, notes and analysis of the Lakers, check out the Land O' Lakers blog from the Kamenetzky Brothers. Blog Beyond Shaw and Adelman, sources said, L.A.'s list of potential targets is only just taking shape. ESPN.com reported in March that the Lakers have maintained a level of interest in former Rockets and New York Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy dating to last season, when Jackson also strongly considered retirement before deciding to come back for one more season. Former Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy will also be considered, the Los Angeles Times' Mark Heisler reported earlier this week via Twitter. Dunleavy coached the Lakers for two seasons in the early 1990s and has maintained a friendship with Lakers owner Jerry Buss and son Jim Buss, who serves as the club's executive vice president of player personnel. L.A.'s decision-making chain of command when it comes to choosing Jackson's replacement is Jim Buss, Jerry Buss and general manager Mitch Kupchak, ESPN.com's J.A. Adande reported after the Lakers were swept Sunday by Dallas. "In that order," one source told Adande. In his post-season sitdown with reporters Wednesday, Kupchak said: "We'd like to be deliberate. In Los Angeles, typically we hire coaches and they stick with us for a long time and hopefully win championships. So we'll take our time in making that decision." Lakers co-captain Derek Fisher and veteran forward Luke Walton have joined Bryant in publicly registering support for Shaw, but it remains to be seen if the Busses are prepared to replace the most successful coach in NBA history with a first-time NBA head coach. Adelman, 64, has never won a championship and is best remembered in Lakerland as coach of the Sacramento team that took a 3-2 series lead over L.A. in the heated and controversial 2002 Western Conference finals before the Kings lost in seven games. But his reputation as a player's coach with a pleasing-to-the-eye offense would appear to make him a better fit than other top veteran coaches available -- such as Van Gundy, Jerry Sloan or Larry Brown -- because of the Buss family's well-known fondness for entertaining basketball. In four seasons with the injury-plagued Rockets, Adelman posted a record of 193-135 for a .588 winning percentage and helped Houston extend the Lakers to seven games in the second round of the 2009 playoffs despite the absence of Yao Ming for most of the series. Adelman's career record is 945-616, which puts him eighth in all-time victories and includes two trips to the NBA Finals with Portland, as well as one unsuccessful stint with Golden State between his jobs with the Blazers and Kings.
Why is "New York Knicks" an active link in that article and "Rockets" is not, typical Y'all think Adelman would take the gig if he was required to enlist Shaw as his predecessor? That would be cruel and ironic, mwuahahaha. He has to take that job if its available. Hes definitely been "waiting for this moment, for all (his) life"
If you're not a high profile city like LA, your front office cannot make amateur-hour decisions like giving up Adelman for the possibility of taking Lawrence Frank. For the most part, Morey has made great personnel decisions with the players. But the Adelman move was terrible. Predictably, LA's front office is capitalizing now.
He's probably not going to win a title in LA either. Kobe's almost done, and the supporting cast's value is at an all time low.
I already knew this. LA is his arch-nemisis, so if he can't beat em he'll join em. Kings vs Lakers 2002 Rockets vs Lakers 2009.
His offense fits to a T. The million dollar question is if anyone can command respect in that locker room and get everyone in line. Kobe burned out Rudy T and sent him packing after only a few months. And word was their locker room had completely tuned out Jackson going into the postseason. And that's leaving out the possibility that a low ($70M or less) hard cap is going to be catastrophic to the Lakers like no other team.
Man, only Morey/Les would give up Rick Adelman to get Frank/Casey/McHale. What a r****ded move. It still pisses me off.
Conspiracy theory: Adelman paid his dues for the NBA and knew it was his time to coach the Lakers. Morey tried to keep him but knew he didn't have a chance.
I def do not agree. I think he would fit nicely with a few more young additions. If Howard and Rick the Ruler move to LA, the title will be theirs next season.
Good for Rick the Ruler if he becomes the coach of the Lakers. Les and Morey don't deserve a great coach like Adelman.
