There’s only one week left in the month of July and the Los Angeles Lakers are still the only team in the NBA without a head coach. Mike D’Antoni resigned back on April 30 forcing the Lakers brass to start the coaching search, but despite numerous candidates being interviewed, the team has been reluctant to name his successor.
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One theory that has started to circulate has been that the Lakers are waiting to see how things pan out with Doc Rivers. Rumors have been floating around that Mitch Kupchak and company may be stalling in their coaching search due to the possibility of landing Rivers.
Even though the Rivers-to-Lakers rumors continue to circulate, team sources are denying any truth to the rumors, according to Mark Medina of the L.A. Daily News:
Amid all the unanswered questions who the Lakers will hire as their next head coach and when, two team sources strongly disputed that any delay stems from waiting out to see if Clippers coach Doc Rivers will become available because of embattled owner Donald Sterling prolonging a costly litigation battle.
The Los Angeles Clippers remain a mess at this point with owner Donald Sterling refusing to cooperate leaving Rivers’ future uncertain. Dick Parsons, the interim CEO of the team, has stated that Rivers is not sure he wants to coach the Clippers if Sterling remains the owner.
Along with Rivers seemingly having one foot out the door with Sterling still around, team sponsors have also indicated no desire to continue with the Clippers if Sterling is still in the picture next season.
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Basically, Sterling will either destroy or resurrect the Clippers with his actions in the coming months. If Sterling eventually gets pushed aside due to the sale of the team to Steve Ballmer, the sponsors will be throwing their money at the team with hopes of a fresh start. If the controversial owner is still around come October, the Clippers will have some serious problems with Rivers wanting out and players possibly also wanting to leave the team.
As for the Lakers, the coaching search continues with Byron Scott seemingly still atop the list of candidates. Scott has been interviewed by the team on multiple occasions and appears to be the frontrunner to land the job moving forward.
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