The Lakers will be bringing in Lionel Hollins for an interview on Thursday, and he will also be interviewing with the Cleveland Cavaliers sometime next week.So far, the Lakers have been slow to address the coaching void left with Mike D'Antoni resigning weeks ago. It's an interesting strategy by the team that can backfire, should the desired coaching candidates sign elsewhere before the Lakers can bring in somebody credible/ready and willing to step into this mess of a team.
Hollins is a major far cry from D'Antoni, being a defensive-minded, grind it out coach, instead of a run and gun, showtime style coach that Jim Buss was looking to build when he hired D'Antoni. The Lakers have already interviewed Mike Dunleavy (ugh) and Byron Scott (okay). Hollins is the first candidate to interview with the team that doesn't have any previous history with the team, as Dunleavy coached the Lakers 24 years ago, when Magic Johnson was still playing, and Scott previously played for the team during the Showtime era and was actually coached by Dunleavy himself.
Hollins has coached for 7 seasons, all with the Memphis Grizzlies. His team won 56 games during his final season, but ultimately lost to the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals. I suppose the team is hoping Hollins' defensive, serious style of coaching will help win the approval of aging star Kobe Bryant. They might be right, but the coaching spot won't even matter if Mitch Kupchak doesn't do some seriously positives things with the roster.
