George Karl is interested in returning to coaching next NBA season, and the veteran coach revealed that he wants to have a shot at taking the Los Angeles Lakers coaching vacancy.
In an interview with SiriusXM Radio interview, Karl admitted that he is intrigued by the possibility of coaching the Lakers, who are currently in a hunt for a replacement for Mike D'Antoni.
Karl revealed that Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak is a good friend dating back to their college days, but he admitted that Kupchak has not contacted him about the coaching vacancy.
"Mitch Kupchak and I were roommates in college and Mitch has been a very good friend of mine for years. Have I talked to Mitch in the last couple of weeks? No, I haven't," Karl said, InsideSoCal reported.
The 62-year-old coach, who is currently working as an ESPN analyst, is also expecting calls from several teams, who are also looking for new coaches, including the Golden State Warriors, Detroit Pistons, and the New York Knicks.
"Whatever Mitch is thinking or whatever Jim Buss is thinking or whatever Golden State is thinking or whatever Detroit is thinking, whatever Phil is thinking in New York, I let the process happen," Karl said. "I would love the opportunity to probably talk to people when they think I'm a person they should be talking to."
Meanwhile, aside from Karl, another potential candidate for the Lakers coaching vacancy is Mark Jackson, who was recently fired by the Golden State Warriors.
ESPN Los Angeles' Dave McMenamin reported that the Lakers were closely monitoring the 2014 NBA Playoffs to see who among the playoff coaches will be available this summer, and Jackson is one of the coaches the team is keeping an eye on.
"Lakers were closely monitoring playoffs to see what coaches would be let go. Mark Jackson is a candidate for LAL," McMenamin posted on his Twitter account.
McMenamin also pointed out that several teams will look at acquiring Jackson, who now holds an impressive resume after a good three-year stint with the Warriors.
"The good news for Mark Jackson is before GSW he had no coaching experience. Now he's a proven success & there are jobs, including LAL, open," McMenamin tweeted.
