Report: Lakers Will Hire Bernie Bickerstaff, Finalize Eddie Jordan Interest

The long dance on whether the Lakers would finally consummate their professed interest in Eddie Jordan appears to be coming to its conclusion, as Mike Brown has apparently settled on the final shape of his coaching staff. We have gotten reports from all quarters on how the Lakers will implement the Princeton offense with Jordan as the primary instructor, and we may stop worrying about whether such a possibility will be realized. From The Orange County Register's Kevin Ding:

It hasn’t exactly been a secret around the NBA that Lakers head coach Mike Brown has been courting Eddie Jordan to join his staff as an assistant coach. The official hiring of Jordan, who played for the Lakers in 1980-83 and ’84, is expected to occur in the coming days — and Brown will be hiring longtime NBA sage Bernie Bickerstaff, too.

The addition of Bickerstaff, who most recently served as an assistant coach with Portland, is an interesting wrinkle since it brings Brown's NBA career full circle. Bickerstaff was the person who gave Brown his first NBA gig as a Denver Nuggets intern, and now he will be coming to a staff with Brown as its head. As for Bickerstaff's credentials, he has been an assistant, head coach, and general manager, as well as innumerable other positions in his nearly forty year NBA career, making him about as qualified for his position as anyone else in the game. While we can't really quantify his overall effect unlike coaches with clearly defined roles such as Jordan or a Tom Thibodeau, there is little reason to complain about bringing such an experienced person onto the bench either.

The issue, if it could be called that, is that Brown is expected to hire one more assistant coach according to Ding, and we had a report two days ago that Orlando assistant Steve Clifford would be joining the staff as well. That brings the total number of assistants -- John Kuester, Chuck Person, Darvin Ham, and the three aforementioned -- to six, which is rather large for a NBA staff. This noted, it is ultimately Brown's prerogative, as will be doling out the tasks and responsibilities. If he feels more comfortable with more people helping to run things, more power to him, and it certainly doesn't hurt to have more quality assistants to shepherd the Lakers through what appears to be hell of a season.