Lakers Rumors: Latest Buzz Around Names To Replace Mike Brown

Mike Brown is out as the coach of the Los Angeles Lakers after the team's worst start of Kobe Bryant's career, according to GM Mitch Kupchak on the team’s official website.

Brown’s retooled Lakers added All-Stars Steve Nash and Dwight Howard during the offseason and brought in veteran forward Antawn Jamison to play off the bench. The coach was in the process of transitioning the Lakers to the Princeton offense, but a 1-4 start and struggles across the lineup ended up being the early nail in the coffin for Brown.

Friday morning I wrote about Lakers’ vice president Jim Buss pledging his support for the embattled head coach. Despite the vote of confidence from Buss and throughout the organization, Brown was let go this afternoon.

Jim Rome said it best (via Twitter) like only he can Friday afternoon:

"

Didn't Jim Buss say he was 100% behind Mike Brown? Yesterday. And so was Mitch.And Dad? Today? You're fired.

— Jim Rome (@jimrome) November 9, 2012"

Now that that’s out of the way, where do the Lakers go from here?

Assistant coach Bernie Bickerstaff will serve as the team’s interim coach for Friday night’s game against the Golden State Warriors at the Staples Center.

Here are a couple of names that have been thrown around since the firing Friday morning.

Jerry Sloan

Sloan is the ideal choice and there is some chatter out there right now that points to him being the guy Kupchak will seek out to right the ship in Los Angeles. On Wednesday, Alex Kennedy of Hoopsworld reported that sources said Brown was out and Sloan would be the coach of the Lakers by December 1.

Two days later, Brown is out and the Lakers are in position to bring in Sloan much earlier than Kennedy’s reports indicated, if accurate.

Mike D’Antoni

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported (via Twitter) that Mike D’Antoni has been a prominent name discussed in Los Angeles:

"

As Lakers ownership has been considering firing of Brown, Mike D'Antoni has been a prominent name discussed as replacement, sources tell Y!

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) November 9, 2012"

According to Wojnarowski in a report, D’Antoni had knee surgery recently and isn’t back on his feet yet, but interim coach Bickerstaff doesn’t plan on being the head coach for more than one game.

However, D’Antoni will not be available to coach until at least late December due to the surgery. Will the Lakers wait that long with the season hanging in the balance?

Phil Jackson

The Zen Master has been speculated as a potential replacement for Mike Brown throughout much of the past week, as talks of Brown’s ouster began to pick up steam. Jackson certainly would be a highly welcomed option by Lakers fans, but there is some bad news out of Los Angeles in the early running.

Los Angeles Times writer Mike Bresnahan reported Friday afternoon that there has been no contact made with Jackson by the Lakers so far (as of 12:30 p.m. ET).

That doesn’t rule out Jackson, though.

Keep it locked to Bleacher Report as the Lakers' coaching search marches forward.