Lakers HC Rumors: LA Reached Out to Jason Kidd Midseason Amid Luke Walton Buzz

The Los Angeles Lakers reached out to former Milwaukee Bucks coach Jason Kidd earlier this season to gauge his interest in the team's potential head coaching vacancy, according to The Athletic's Frank Isola (h/t The Athletic's Bill Oram).

Oram noted, though, that a "high-ranking Lakers official" has denied that report.

A 10-time All-Star and one-time NBA champion as a player, Kidd has yet to achieve an overwhelming amount of success as a head coach. He got his first shot with the Brooklyn Nets in 2013-14, going 44-38 while guiding the team to the second round of the playoffs.

He would only make it one year in Brooklyn, though, before the Nets traded him to Milwaukee. He spent three-plus years as the coach the Bucks, leading the team to a pair of postseason appearances.

Kidd has a career record of 183-190 with three playoff berths in his four-plus seasons. The Bucks fired him midseason in 2017-18 after the team managed just a 23-22 record in what was supposed to be a big step forward for the franchise.

Meanwhile, there have been questions all season about how much longer Walton would last in L.A. ESPN.com's Adrian Wojnarowski and Dave McMenamin reported Lakers president Magic Johnson "admonished" Walton just weeks into the season amid a 3-5 start.

Walton has survived to this point, however, despite a 37-44 record, which has Los Angeles missing out on the postseason for the sixth consecutive campaign. The 39-year-old told Oram last month that he "fully expect[s] to be coaching this team again next year." He has one more guaranteed year remaining on his contract.

Walton is 98-147 in three seasons as the Lakers' coach.