The search to replace resigned Lakers head coach Mike D’Antoni is still on but Derek Fisher is out of the running. The team has decided they need a coach with previous NBA head coaching experience which means Fisher won’t make the Jason Kidd leap for the Lakers.
via the LA Times:
The Lakers think Fisher will be a solid NBA coach or executive at some point, but their initial curiosity about him has been replaced by a desire for actual experience, the latest turn in a deliberately slow coaching search approaching the six-week mark.
Fisher, however, has been mentioned as a candidate to fill New York’s coaching vacancy, which would reunite him with Knicks team President Phil Jackson. Fisher will be 40 in August and still hasn’t decided whether to retire as a player after averaging 5.2 points this season for Oklahoma City.
Fisher was part of five championships over two tours with the Lakers as a player.
The Lakers have interviewed five coaches in person: Byron Scott, Kurt Rambis, Lionel Hollins, Alvin Gentry and Mike Dunleavy.
