Of the names being placed in connection with the Los Angeles Lakers head coach job, at least one could be considered intriguing for its possibilities.
Lakers plan to interview Lionel Hollins, Alvin Gentry
The Orlando Sentinel is reporting that Florida Gators coach Billy Donovan, who has won two NCAA championships with the Gators in 2007-08 and had the program back in the Final Four in 2014, reopened the possibility that he could bolt for the NBA this season.
"I think when you start making guarantees about life and start making guarantees about where you're going to be, that's not good," he said, according to the Sentinel. "If for some reason I ever change my mind and did something, I wouldn't want (people) saying, 'Well, he promised, he guaranteed, he said this on record.' I just think when you start doing that, that's a mistake.
"I've seen a lot of coaches over the years come out and say, 'No, no, no, no, I'm not going anywhere, I'm not going anywhere,' and then all of a sudden they go somewhere and it's like, 'Well, this guy is a complete liar.' I don't want to get into that situation. There's been some teams that have called, but that's really it."
Lakers talk to former Lakers coach Mike Dunleavy about possible return
The Lakers are one of five franchises looking for coaches, and the candidates that the team is considering have solid resumes but may not elicit the excitement of Donovan, who isn't a recycled NBA coach, as long as you don't count his few days stay with the Orlando Magic in 2007 before second thoughts led him back to Gainesville, Fla.
The Lakers have talked to former Laker Byron Scott, former Lakers coach Mike Dunleavy, former Lakers player and coach Mike Dunleavy and plan to talk to former Memphis Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins and Phoenix Suns coach Alvin Gentry.
ESPN reported last week that despite being contacted by multiple NBA teams about head coaching jobs, Donovan is perfectly happy at his school and is planning to coach the Gators next season.
But his comments at the SEC meeting suggest that the itch to coach in the NBA is alive and well in his system.
"All I can say is I love Florida, I'm happy here ... the school's been great to me," Donovan told the Sentinel. "But at the same point, some of the NBA stuff, as I've said before, is intriguing in a lot of ways -- the basketball part of it. That's not to say that I'm unhappy here; that's not the case at all."
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