The Los Angeles Lakers have yet to name a new head coach after parting ways with Frank Vogel at the end of the regular season. But it appears that the list of potential replacements has been whittled down.
According to NBA insider Shams Charania, there are three finalists for the Lakers head coaching job. Making the list are Milwaukee Bucks assistant Darvin Ham, Golden State Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson and former NBA head coach Terry Stotts.
Per the report, all three will partake in in-person interviews in Los Angeles next. Though it remains to be seen if more will be added to the list later.
Of the three, Ham is the only one with previous ties to the Lakers organization. He was an assistant under former head coach Mike Brown from 2011 to 2013.
But Ham is also the only coach on the list with no head coaching experience of his own.
Kenny Atkinson was head coach of the Brooklyn Nets from 2016 to 2020. He went 118-190 before resigning during the 2019-20 season.
Terry Stotts found significantly more success as a head coach once he joined the Portland Trail Blazers in 2012. After four lackluster years split between the Milwaukee Bucks and Atlanta Hawks, he turned Portland into a perennial playoff team within a year.
From 2013 to 2021, Stotts led Portland to the playoffs eight straight years, with a trip to the Western Conference Finals in 2019. But he has yet to take a team to the NBA Finals.
Are any of these three candidates suitable for the Lakers coaching job?