Who Will Be The Next Coach Of The Los Angeles Lakers?

(Photo : Reuters)

The Los Angeles Lakers plan on making a splash across the NBA when they choose their 25th coach in franchise history.

There are some big names being thrown around including two NCAA National Championship coaches; John Calipari and former 13-year NBA veteran, who is also the current NCAA Champion coach, Kevin Ollie .

Calipari was rumored to be the next Lakers coach on the night of the National Championship game but denied all rumors, of course. Calipari left a clear message saying he plans on staying with his group of kids at Kentucky, but this wouldn't be the first time a coach talked one way and walked another.

Ollie's name has been included with Calipari's for the Lakers coaching opening but seems more of a stretch of the two because of his lack of experience. Ollie was able to coach the UConn Huskies to a National Championship in his first NCAA Tournament experience as a coach, which sky rocketed his name to the top of a lot of openings across the NBA. His 13-year NBA experience is also a plus and would help him tremendously in understanding the face-paced tempo of the NBA.

Another name being thrown around is actually in the playoffs right now. Former Laker and current Oklahoma City Thunder player Derek Fisher's name has been mentioned since D'Antoni's resigned. Fisher has already said he plans to retire after this season. The Brooklyn Nets took a risk when they hired Jason Kidd the same offseason that he retired and that ended up pretty well after a rough start.

Lionel Hollins and George Karl are both available as well. Both Hollins and Karl coached their teams to the playoffs at the end of the 2013 season but were both also let go. George Karl also won the coach of the year that season with the Denver Nuggets, but oddly enough was still out of a job after his playoff series loss to Golden State. Hollins was out as coach of the Grizzlies after he was swept out of the playoffs by the San Antonio Spurs.

A few other notable names with some buzz around the Lakers coaching search are Steve Kerr, Jeff Van Gundy, Byron Scott, Kurt Rambis, Mike Dunleavy Sr, as well as the Chicago Bulls current coach Tom Thibodeau. 

Oh and if you thought the Clippers drama was over, Doc Rivers is also on the Lakers radar; sources close to Rivers said he currently has no thoughts about Lakers coach opening at this time.

The Lakers are going to need a coach who can handle the spotlight of the Los Angeles market and the expectations for a Lakers organization that is a regular in the playoffs, including 16 NBA Championships.

The stars are bright in LA, on your roster and sitting courtside and all of these variables should be consider when the Lakers do decide who will be their 25th coach in Los Angeles Lakers history.