Lakers want coach with prior 'NBA coaching experience,' according to report

The Los Angeles Lakers are in no hurry to hire their next head coach, but the front office is slowly narrowing down their parameters. The team is reportedly only interested in hiring a head coach with "previous NBA coaching experience," reports Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times.

What does that mean? Derek Fisher and the host of college head coaches that were floated around are off the Lakers' radar now. The wording suggests that the Lakers want an "experienced" coach, but it's unclear how the team qualifies that. Ettore Messina has "NBA experience," but he's never been a head coach, for example. Former and current assistant coaches could still be in the running.

The report lines up with how the team has handled the coaching search thus far. The Lakers have interviewed Byron Scott, Mike Dunleavy, Kurt Rambis, Alvin Gentry and Lionel Hollins, all retread candidates with head coach experience at the NBA level. Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak has had an informal conversation with George Karl, though the team has not officially interviewed him for the position.

The Lakers are deliberately taking their time with filling out the position, as Kupchak stated they would, and haven't shown any concern with involving the next head coach in their process leading up to the NBA Draft. Potential candidates, like Quin Snyder who just agreed to become the next head coach of the Utah Jazz, have been dropping like flies in the meantime.