Lakers Interview Pair of Former NBA Head Coaches

The Los Angeles Lakers have reportedly interviewed a pair of former NBA head coaches for its coaching vacancy: ex-Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson and former Portland Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and The Athletic's Shams Charania broke the news, respectively.

The Lakers interviewed former Portland Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts for the franchise’s coaching job this week, sources tell ESPN. Stotts made the playoffs in eight straight seasons with Blazers, including two trips to conference semifinals and a berth in conference finals.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 7, 2022

The Los Angeles Lakers have interviewed former Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson for their head coaching job, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Jackson is among the finalists for the Sacramento Kings head coach opening.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 7, 2022

The head coaching search in Los Angeles appears to be in full swing.

Stotts last coached in the NBA in 2021 after spending nine years with the Portland Trail Blazers. He and the Blazers mutually agreed to part ways after Portland's elimination from the 2021 NBA playoffs. Stotts led Portland to eight playoff appearances, including a Western Conference Finals berth in 2019.

Meanwhile, Jackson hasn't been on the sidelines since getting fired from the Golden State Warriors in 2014. The former NBA point guard was responsible for bringing Warriors basketball back to prominence and initially unlocking the potential of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. He is currently an analyst at ESPN.

The Lakers have other candidates in mind and have also been rumored to target assistant coaches around the league. Among those include Bucks assistant Darvin Ham and Raptors assistant Adrian Griffin.

Los Angeles fired Frank Vogel at the end of the 2021-22 regular season after failing to lead the Lakers to even a play-in tournament spot.

Vogel wasn't fully responsible for the Lakers' disappointing campaign. The roster construction was questionable to begin with due to the lack of shooting surrounding LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

In addition, the lack of defensive players didn't particularly fit with Vogel's strength as a defensive-minded coach. Furthermore, Los Angeles dealt with a myriad of injuries throughout the season.

The coaching search is just one of many things the Lakers are going to work on this upcoming summer. This should be a very busy offseason for the Purple and Gold franchise.