LOS ANGELES – As little as Mike DAntoni wanted to coach Kobe Bryant in the end, Bryant wanted to play for DAntoni even less. They had barely communicated for months, steering clear until a permanent parting on Wednesday night. They wouldve been miserable together, wouldve inevitably imploded the Los Angeles Lakers locker room. DAntoni is a great offensive mind, but his difficulties with Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol and Bryant have played a part in the unraveling of his coaching career. Lakers management had a willingness to bring him back next year, but refused to make a commitment beyond 2015. The Lakers have lost talent, lost stability, lost what separates winning and losing franchises. Bryant wont pick the next coach, the way he had no input into Mike Brown and little into DAntoni. Bryant will wish for Tom Thibodeau to free himself from Chicago. He loves Jeff Van Gundy, and shares managements affinity for Euro legend Ettore Messina, who spent a season on Mike Browns staff. Bryant has long admired Byron Scott, but theres a different ex-Lakers guard who could go much further to regenerate the franchises culture and hold the insight into getting the most out of Bryants final two seasons: Derek Fisher. . Kevin Durant (could be a free-agent target for the Lakers in 2016. (USA Today) Once the Oklahoma City Thunders season ends, Fisher will have a willingness to listen to coaching, front office and broadcasting possibilities. As for the Lakers coaching job, it holds tremendous appeal to him, sources with knowledge of his thinking told Yahoo Sports on Wednesday night. For now, the Thunders 3-2 deficit to Memphis holds his full focus, but theres no rush for the Lakers to hire a coach now. The Lakers need to make themselves a destination again. Free agency has major importance in 2015 and 16 for the Lakers, and theyll need to be positioned to make a run at Kevin Durant. Superstars want desperately to consider the Lakers in free agency, but they wont go anywhere based only on geography and banners. Theyll need to see an infrastructure of talent, management structure and coaching. Durant will want a culture, and Fisher couldve grown into the job by 16 to sell him on the Lakers brand. It is risky to hire a coach with no experience, but the right minds and right coaching staffs can make it work. Fisher will command respect and hell be synonymous with a championship heritage that Lakers fans crave as a face of the franchise. Fisher is close to the end with the Thunder, and hell be the rare non-star to choose his next direction: management, coaching or television. Hes smart enough to figure them all out, but coaching the Lakers would be the most tempting of all for Fisher. History with Bryant in the short term – and history with Durant in the long term – are legitimate benefits in pursuit of this job. The Lakers wont be reconstructed overnight, but through the draft and trades and ultimately free agency. There are good candidate cases to be made elsewhere in the Lakers search process, but the most intriguing could be the most unconventional: out of the Thunder backcourt and onto the Lakers bench. Derek Fisher is nearing the end, and willing to listen. This is a call the Buss family and Mitch Kupchak must make, a conversation with Fisher they owe it to the franchise to have sooner than later.
Posted on: Thu, 01 May 2014 07:52:49 +0000