Lakers assistant coach Steve Clifford,
will become Charlotte Bobcats head coach.
League sources claim to have agreed on
an interview for the teams head coaching
position. He will become the Bobcats 8th
coach in the organization's history.
This being the case after the firing of
Mike Dunlop following a 21-61 record.
Clifford is seeking NBA head-coaching
experience and his departure from the
Lakers marks another shift in which
D'Antoni's coaching staff has drastically
altered since the end of the 2012-2013
season. Lakers assistant coach Eddie
Jordan took the Rutgers men's basket-
ball position shortly before the NBA players
started. D'Antoni informed Bernie Bickerstaff
and Chuck Person they would not be
retained a week after the Lakers' first round
playoff exit to San Antonio. The players
development coach Phil Handy joined Mike
Brown's coaching staff with the Cleveland
Cavaliers. Person and Clifford were considered
close to Dwight Howard, who will become
an unrestricted free agent July 1st. Clifford
was well respected on the Lakers team for his
defensive expertise and amenable personality.
He might try to add Lakers assistant coach
Darvin Ham to his coaching staff. D'Antoni
currently has his brother Dan, and Ham
as assistants. Some possible replacements
could include Alvin Gentry and Nate McMillan.
Both of the hirings hinge on whether they
would receive head coaching positions else-
where. D'Antoni does not plan to fill all of
the vacancies I guess, as he seems to prefer
a smaller staff than Mike Brown had.
An interesting article caught my eye in the
latest Time magazine. It is about Lakers
former coach, Phil Jackson. He speaks of
his fantasy team and the love/not so..of
Lakers player, Kobe Bryant. Phil is out
tooling about telling others of his latest
book "Eleven Rings". He says that the most
critical ingredient for a championship is
love. Yes, teams must get along together
and often hang out together, but mostly
it must be that they have to know how
to deliver the ball so that players can get
a good shot. Each one has to have the
knowledge to move outside of himself
and think about others. Phil believes
in Christian mysticism, Zen Buddhism
and Native American beliefs. Where
there is a higher power, being in harmony
with the moment is a must. Without that,
he thinks players can actually feel lost.
His pick for that "fantasy team" would be
Bill Russell. Bill won 11 championships
as a player. He does claim that the Lakers
were very likely the most talented team
that he ever had the opportunity to coach.
Before winning 11 rings as a coach,
Jackson had won two rings as a player.
This was with the New York Knicks.
His Montana Ranch life seems to fit
him these days but yes, we do miss him.
Babs Wells
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