Kupchak Begins Search Mode

Still with little idea of just how much rebuilding will have to be done, Laker General Manager Mitch Kupchak has invited former Houston Rocket coach Rudy Tomjanovich to Los Angeles to interview for the head coach job.

They are expected to meet early this week. If owner Jerry Buss is to be involved, the meeting would have to take place before Wednesday, when Buss is scheduled to fly to Italy.

Buss let Phil Jackson go Friday evening and by Saturday morning the organization had a working list of replacements: Tomjanovich, George Karl and Pat Riley, among others, added to in-house candidates Kurt Rambis and Jim Cleamons.

Riley issued a statement Saturday in which he said he probably would not be interested and revealed he was in negotiations to extend his presidency of the Miami Heat.

Kupchak apparently started the search with Tomjanovich, by some accounts during a pre-draft camp last week in Chicago. Since then, Shaquille O’Neal has demanded a trade and Kobe Bryant has opted out of his contract, as has Karl Malone, as could Gary Payton and Derek Fisher.

The Lakers’ best-case scenario would be to have a coach by Thursday’s draft. More likely, they’ll have replaced Jackson sometime in the next 10 days.

What Tomjanovich, or any of the candidates, will find when they arrive, therefore, is vague. The mere possibility that the summer could end with O’Neal at center and Bryant at shooting guard would seem to be enough to make it an attractive position and, in this case, bring Tomjanovich out of semi-retirement.

Through a spokesperson Saturday afternoon, Tomjanovich said, “I have been contacted and am interested in discussing things with the Lakers and hearing what they have to say.”

Tomjanovich, 55, won two championships with the Rockets in the mid-1990s, then left coaching a year ago to recover from bladder cancer, which he appears to have done. Subsequent checkups have proven him healthy. He also has quit alcohol, caffeine and cigarettes.

Tomjanovich has leaguewide credibility, because he won and because he dealt effectively with his superstars. He is folksy and easy-going and he is experienced in matching a young, shot-hungry guard (Steve Francis) with an older, established center (Hakeem Olajuwon).

In the year since he stepped down and was replaced by Jeff Van Gundy, Tomjanovich worked for the Rockets as a scout, during this season asking Rocket management for more duties.

Riley coached four Laker championship teams when the guard was Magic Johnson and the center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He is president of the Heat, but no longer coach, having given that duty to Stan Van Gundy on the eve of the season.

He said through a spokesperson Saturday he had not been contacted by Kupchak or Buss and did not expect to be.

“There’s nothing to it,” he said. “Rumors are going to fly and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

In fact, he said, “I am currently in discussions with [Managing General Partner Micky Arison] on extending my contract.”

Riley is due to become vested in as much as 20% ownership of the Heat if he remains for all 10 years of a contract he signed nine years ago.

Buss and Kupchak apparently agree the job is better off in experienced hands, given the franchise’s expectations, the predictable locker-room volatility and the chill of following Jackson. In Friday’s press release, Buss called Jackson the best coach in NBA history, and he didn’t want him back. So the next guy better be pretty good.

Karl’s inclusion on the list speaks to his years as a coach and his ties to Kupchak, like Karl a product of North Carolina. Karl certainly would get Payton’s vote, though it is unlikely Payton would have one. Cleamons is a candidate to replace Jim O’Brien at Ohio State, Cleamons’ alma mater.

Bryant’s wishes are unclear. There is an assumption he will be consulted, as Buss appears intent on meeting his wishes. That started with the clearing of Jackson, whose last official duty apparently will be to meet with his former staff Monday.

Todd Musburger, Jackson’s agent, called to check his voice mail Saturday morning, found it full, decided that would be too big of a job and left it so.

Six years ago, when Jackson left the Chicago Bulls under similar sky-is-falling circumstances, Musburger had the voices of about a dozen NBA general managers on his answering machine by nightfall and Jackson already had announced he’d take a year off.

The Lakers’ Jerry West was not among the early suitors, but he got around to it eventually, talking Jackson out of the woods the following June.

By Saturday morning, it had become Kupchak’s job to replace Jackson, five years and three NBA titles later.

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Rocket Man

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Career coaching record of Rudy Tomjanovich. *Shading denotes NBA championships:

*--* REG. SEASON PLAYOFFS YR TEAM W L PCT W L PCT ‘91-92 Houston 16 14 533 0 0 000 ‘92-93 Houston 55 27 671 6 6 500 *’93-94 Houston 58 24 707 15 8 652 *’94-95 Houston 47 35 573 15 7 682 ‘95-96 Houston 48 34 585 3 5 375 ‘96-97 Houston 57 25 695 9 7 563 ‘97-98 Houston 41 41 500 2 3 400 ‘98-99 Houston 31 19 620 1 3 250 ‘99-00 Houston 34 48 415 0 0 000 ‘00-01 Houston 45 37 549 0 0 000 ‘01-02 Houston 28 54 341 0 0 000 ‘02-03 Houston 43 39 524 0 0 000 TOTALS 503 397 559 51 39 567

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