After a search process that was as “thorough and methodical” as the team repeatedly promised, the Los Angeles Lakers have hired Milwaukee Bucks assistant coach Darvin Ham as their next head coach.
Below is a list of the other candidates the Lakers considered.
Every other coach the Lakers were linked to before hiring Ham
- Quin Snyder (Utah Jazz head coach)
- Nick Nurse (Toronto Raptors head coach)
- Steve Clifford (former head coach of the Orlando Magic and Charlotte Bobcats/Hornets)
- Terry Stotts (former Portland Trail Blazers head coach)
- Scott Brooks (former Oklahoma City Thunder and Washington Wizards head coach, current Portland Trail Blazers lead assistant)
- Alex Jensen (Utah Jazz assistant coach)
- Adrian Griffin (Toronto Raptors assistant coach)
- Kenny Atkinson (Golden State Warriors assistant coach, former Brooklyn Nets head coach)
- Charles Lee (Milwaukee Bucks assistant coach)
- Mike Brown: The Golden State Warriors assistant — and former Lakers and Cavaliers head coach — was repeatedly linked to the Lakers job, but ultimately hired as the next head coach of the Sacramento Kings.
- Doc Rivers: Philadelphia 76ers head coach — While he wasn’t technically hired elsewhere, Rivers will remain in Philly, as confirmed by the team’s president of basketball operations Daryl Morey, ending the speculation tying him to the Lakers.
- Juwan Howard: The University of Michigan head coach has reportedly declined the chance to interview for the Lakers job and is focused on coaching his sons in college for now.
- Mark Jackson: The former Golden State Warriors head coach and current ESPN commentator does not appear to have made it to the Lakers’ second round of interviews.
On this page, we will be keeping an updating list of stories and/or podcasts we’ve done analyzing or writing about the move and the search process that led to it. So bookmark it, and stay tuned for updates with the latest developments as the news continues to pour out in the wake of the first major decision of the team’s offseason.
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