Michael Jordan.
03-07-2014, 07:48 PM
Shortly after a 48-point loss to the Los Angeles Clippers (http://espn.go.com/nba/team/_/name/lac/los-angeles-clippers) on Thursday night, Los Angeles Lakers (http://espn.go.com/nba/team/_/name/lal/los-angeles-lakers) general manager Mitch Kupchak met separately with embattled coach Mike D'Antoni and vice president of player personnel Jim Buss to discuss the state of the team, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.
While Lakers management plans to continue to assess the situation, in the short term it is inclined to see how the team responds to the worst loss in franchise history, rather than make an in-season coaching change, sources said.
The Lakers play the Denver Nuggets (http://espn.go.com/nba/team/_/name/den/denver-nuggets) on Friday night in the second night of a back-to-back, then host the Oklahoma City Thunder (http://espn.go.com/nba/team/_/name/okc/oklahoma-city-thunder) on Sunday afternoon. After that, Los Angeles travels to Oklahoma City and San Antonio for a back-to-back next Thursday and Friday, respectively.
Kupchak has maintained a strong working relationship with D'Antoni in his two seasons as the Lakers' coach and has been pleased with the way he's kept the team together as the losses mounted on what will surely end up as one of the worst seasons in franchise history, sources said. The Lakers have been without Kobe Bryant (http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/110/kobe-bryant) for all but six games this season. Point guard Steve Nash (http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/592/steve-nash) has played in just 10 games.
The Lakers have set themselves up to chase one of the marquee players who could become free agents this summer. They had planned to evaluate D'Antoni, like all coaches, after the season.
The historically bad loss to the Clippers on Thursday caused Kupchak to check in with D'Antoni and the rest of Lakers management to discuss whether there was anything that could be done to get the team back on track, but the first inclination was not to make a coaching change, sources said.
http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/10570169/los-angeles-lakers-talk-state-team-rout-los-angeles-clippers
While Lakers management plans to continue to assess the situation, in the short term it is inclined to see how the team responds to the worst loss in franchise history, rather than make an in-season coaching change, sources said.
The Lakers play the Denver Nuggets (http://espn.go.com/nba/team/_/name/den/denver-nuggets) on Friday night in the second night of a back-to-back, then host the Oklahoma City Thunder (http://espn.go.com/nba/team/_/name/okc/oklahoma-city-thunder) on Sunday afternoon. After that, Los Angeles travels to Oklahoma City and San Antonio for a back-to-back next Thursday and Friday, respectively.
Kupchak has maintained a strong working relationship with D'Antoni in his two seasons as the Lakers' coach and has been pleased with the way he's kept the team together as the losses mounted on what will surely end up as one of the worst seasons in franchise history, sources said. The Lakers have been without Kobe Bryant (http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/110/kobe-bryant) for all but six games this season. Point guard Steve Nash (http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/592/steve-nash) has played in just 10 games.
The Lakers have set themselves up to chase one of the marquee players who could become free agents this summer. They had planned to evaluate D'Antoni, like all coaches, after the season.
The historically bad loss to the Clippers on Thursday caused Kupchak to check in with D'Antoni and the rest of Lakers management to discuss whether there was anything that could be done to get the team back on track, but the first inclination was not to make a coaching change, sources said.
http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/10570169/los-angeles-lakers-talk-state-team-rout-los-angeles-clippers