Duke University coaching legend Mike Krzyzewski may be retired but that doesn’t mean he has nothing to do. On the contrary. Turns out, Coach K remains pretty involved with the game at every level — and that includes the NBA.
Per Shams Charania and Jovan Buha of The Athletic, Krzyzewski is assisting general manager Rob Pelinka and the Los Angeles Lakers with their coaching search.
“The Lakers are seeking a coach who will command the locker room and hold players accountable, as well as tirelessly gameplan and provide a level of structure and organization,” Charania and Buha wrote. “Multiple sources briefed on the matter say one person who has become a respected unofficial resource for the Lakers during the process is legendary Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, whose deep knowledge of candidates, such as Redick and others, provides a lens into the culture the organization wants and the characteristics of a potential staff around the next head coach.
“Krzyzewski’s history with the Lakers goes back to 2004 when Dr. Jerry Buss made a strong yet unsuccessful offer to hire Coach K.”
According to that same report, former Charlotte Hornets coach James Borrego and ex-NBA guards JJ Redick and Sam Cassell have emerged as the early top targets for the Lakers in their search.
Redick has a podcast with LeBron James, so they already have a strong rapport. He is currently serving as an analyst for ESPN’s NBA broadcasts and has interviewed for several other vacancies over the past few years.
Borrego is an assistant coach with the New Orleans Pelicans, while Cassell is an assistant with the Boston Celtics.
Ashish Mathur contributed to this report.
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