Lakers assistant Steve Clifford draws interest around league
Lakers assistant coach Steve Clifford has drawn interest around the NBA, taking interviews with the Milwaukee Bucks and Charlotte Bobcats.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, Clifford met with Bucks officials on Monday concerning their opening for a head coach. The Bucks recently let go of interim coach Jim Boylan. The team has also been linked to Jerry Sloan, Kelvin Sampson, Nate McMillan and J.B. Bickerstaff.
The Bobcats are expected to meet with Clifford in the coming days. Coach Mike Dunlap was fired after just one season in Charlotte. The Bobcats are also considering former Lakers assistant Quin Snyder along with Elton Turner, Nate Tibbets, Alvin Gentry and Sampson.
Clifford joined Mike Brown’s staff after a numbers of years with the Orlando Magic (with Dwight Howard). When Coach Mike D’Antoni took over midseason, he kept all of Brown’s assistants.
The Lakers have already informed Bernie Bickerstaff and Chuck Person they won’t be retained. If Clifford doesn’t leave for a head coaching gig, he is likely to return next year in support of D’Antoni.
Gentry is another candidate to join the Lakers coaching staff -- if he doesn’t get the top job with another organization.
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Email Eric Pincus at eric.pincus@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @EricPincus.
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