As the Los Angeles Lakers continue with their head coaching search, some candidates have begun to emerge ahead of the rest.
It’s no secret that the Lakers would love to bring in Nick Nurse, who is repped by Klutch Sports. But the Toronto Raptors head coach shot down rumors of coming to L.A. on Monday, so that is not looking likely.
The Lakers still have to interview a number of candidates before landing on one as their next head coach, and it seems like that process is now underway.
It was reported at the end of last week that the Lakers requested permission to interview Milwaukee Bucks assistant Darvin Ham. Now, according to Dan Woike of the L.A. Times, that permission was granted by the Bucks so that interview is expected to take place:
The Lakers have been given permission to interview Milwaukee Bucks assistant coach Darvin Ham, a person with knowledge of the situation confirmed to the Los Angeles Times on Friday afternoon.
The Bucks are currently in the middle of their second-round postseason series with the Boston Celtics, so it remains to be seen when the Lakers’ interview with Ham will take place and if it will be in person or over Zoom.
As this postseason has gone along though, Ham’s stock is only going up so if the Lakers want to hire him and keep him away from the other coaching vacancies like the Sacramento Kings and Charlotte Hornets, then they may be best off acting swiftly.
Lakers taking different approach to coaching search
Typically when NBA teams are looking for new coaches, they bring in as many candidates as possible for interviews before landing on a few finalists to bring in for second interviews.
According to a recent report though, the Lakers are taking a different approach by only interviewing a few candidates at first, so it will be interesting to see how that unique strategy works out for L.A.
Ham is the first candidate the Lakers are known to schedule an interview with, and there likely will be more to follow in the coming days and weeks.
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