.

[hmm]

.

[.]

I some how, some way hope that they can bring in Pat Riley.

[Macca]

I'm not a huge Lakers fan, but I just don't want them to go down the road that the Bulls are going down as in hiring former players who coached at another team and got fired within 3 years.

As much as I'd like to see the Lakers suck, I gotta save them. It's my job as a Bulls-Pistons fan to at least give them a consolation prize!

Macca

[RedTorro]

Kobe wanted Byron Scott but that was swatted. Michael Cooper wants the job badly. I think the best fit would Phil's assistant coach who has been widely pursued throughout the league.

[Andrew]

I think the best fit would Phil's assistant coach who has been widely pursued throughout the league.

Would that be Jim Cleamons?

[Fresh8]

Jim Cleamons for LAKERS HEAD COACH!

[.]

George Karl is also a option.

[Jeffx]

The papers mentioned Rudy T.

[RedTorro]

I think the best fit would Phil's assistant coach who has been widely pursued throughout the league.

Would that be Jim Cleamons?

That would be correct, I also heard that George Karl would be a possibility.

[Jackal]

George Karl
Mike Fratello
Randy Ayers
Frank Johnson
Doug Collins
Rudy Tomjanovic

That's a small list of well known coaches. They are all available, correct me if I'm wrong.

[Jackal]

He should pick up the phone, dial Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss' private number and say, "Call me if you and Phil Jackson are done with each other. I'll be your new coach."

That's exactly what Pat Riley ought to do.

Because he and the Lakers, once upon a time happily married for nine extraordinarily fulfilling years, just might need each other now more than ever.

Riley says no, no, no, a thousand times no to coaching anywhere ever again and he says it in a thousand different ways. He has said it since he resigned as Heat coach four days before the start of the NBA season that just ended with the crash of the Lakers under Jackson against Detroit.

Riley has said he was "desperate" to get out and isn't driven to get back in and feels "no angst" about having retreated to live the front-office life.

Riley's a terrific talker. When you listen to him address a small group or engage in one-on-one conversation, it's abundantly clear why he draws huge paydays for motivational speeches. But on the subject of leaving the coach's seat for good? Mostly, he always sounds to me as though he's trying to convince himself it's the right and best thing to do.

Now, however, the L.A. door that opened for Riley in the earliest stages of the 1981-82 season might soon open again. If it does, Riley should walk through it.

Think there was intrigue surrounding the Lakers and the circus act featuring Jackson, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Karl Malone and Gary Payton this year? Try making Riley the ringmaster -- "ring" being the operative syllable in that L.A. failed to win one -- and see what happens.

The potential timing of this is too perfect.

Jackson, who won six titles with the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls and won three more in five years with the O'Neal/Bryant-led Lakers, seems ready to call it a career after his first NBA Finals loss. Riley, meanwhile, could depart Miami secure in the knowledge he was correct about having refurbished the Heat and repositioned it for a run into Eastern Conference contention.

Jackson's own wording in the wake of Tuesday night's elimination was that "it's a pretty slim chance" he'll be back coaching next year. Time's up on the $30 million deal he signed with the Lakers in 1999, and discussions about a possible extension broke off during the season.

OK, so to whom should Buss turn?

Riley, obviously.

The man went 533-194 in L.A. from the time he said he got "the silver spoon stuffed in my mouth" upon being named to replace Paul Westhead as Lakers boss. And that doesn't count his 102-47 playoff record with the four titles -- including one that very first season -- and three other appearances in the NBA Finals.

Oh, sure, some people might suggest Riley getting the Lakers job again would amount to him looking to have another silver spoon stuffed into his mouth. Those people would be wrong. Because the utensil of choice within the dysfunctional L.A. family this season seemed to be a knife... and it usually was discovered stuck in someone's back.

Speculation is rampant that the Lakers will break up.

O'Neal likely is to remain at the core, but Bryant could be off to another team if he isn't off to prison. Malone, aged and injured, could hobble into retirement. Payton, pouty and ineffective, could seek new employment.

The guess here, though, is that nobody would scatter if Jackson goes out and Riley comes in.

Riley would have in O'Neal the kind of star center with whom he has been successful (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in Los Angeles, Patrick Ewing in New York and Alonzo Mourning in Miami). He'd have in Bryant, if available, a perimeter stylist to alternately soothe and challenge to good effect. He'd probably be able to coax Malone back for another season and relish the veteran's maturity and moxie on and off the court. And, hey, Riley was interested in possibly bringing Payton to the Heat a year ago.

Riley, despite his recent success in restructuring the Heat, still seems a better fit working X's and O's rather than salary cap dollar signs. In fact, he unfailingly credits others in the Miami chain of command -- General Manager Randy Pfund, most notably -- for making him look good as team president.

Better, certainly, than he looked during his 20th and 21st seasons as an NBA coach when he endured the first losing records of his career with ugly 36-46 and 25-57 marks.

That's no way to write an ending.

Which is another reason a Riley-Lakers second marriage would be so enticing.

Props to Tony for the link.

Link.

[Micchy_boy]

Few names i like (i repeat) i like to coach Lakers next season with no particular order.

Rudy T
Pat Riley
Doug Collins
Mike Fratello

[magius]

add henry bibby to the list and kurt rambis

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1824772