In only a couple of days there have been a number of names mentioned in relation to the Los Angeles Lakers head coaching position. Luke Walton, Ettore Messina and Kevin Ollie have been mentioned the most, but someone else who is reportedly interested in the job is Derek Fisher.
Fisher won five championships as a player with the Lakers and is, of course, familiar with the franchise. As a former player, he also has great relationships with a number of current players, including his former teammates with the Oklahoma City Thunder Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.
According to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News, Fisher is hoping those connections make him a more attractive option for the Lakers:
Fisher, according to a source, is hoping that his connections to Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook will make him more attractive to the Lakers, who have missed out on key free agents the past few summers.
If Fisher could indeed help bring in one of those guys, it would certainly play into his favor. The Lakers reportedly want their next coach to be a ‘recruiter-in-chief’ who can be a huge help in free agency pitches where the Lakers have come up short in recent years.
Of course, there’s no way to know for sure that any coaching option would bring in certain players so it will likely take more than that for Fisher to land the job. Furthermore, Ollie also has a connection with both Thunder stars, so if he is viewed as a higher priority than Fisher, it may not bode well for the former Laker’s chances.
