Kobe Bryant recently said that he wants to have a role in the search for the new Los Angeles Lakers coach, but general manager Mitch Kupchak insisted that the superstar guard won't have a say in their upcoming decision.
Kupchak said in an interview with ESPN Los Angeles that his lines of communication with Bryant is always open, but he clarified that that doesn't mean the 16-time All-Star will influence their decision in picking a coach to replace Mike D'Antoni, who recently resigned from his post.
"From time to time we ask his advice," Kupchak said on Thursday. "He really won't weigh in on something like this. I'm not even sure that we'll talk to him prior to interviews. But from time to time, he is in our facility, I'll go downstairs and I'll talk to him about a bunch of different things."
Bryant said during his appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" last week that he is hoping that their executives will ask him for inputs, saying that the Lakers failed to make the right decision in their last two coaching searches.
"On the last two they didn't," Bryant said, referring to the Lakers decision to hire Mike Brown and D'Antoni. "On the third one, I'm hoping they do."
But while Bryant will not have a big role in the coaching search, Kupchak expressed belief that Bryant will still be a big factor moving forward - on the hardcourt.
"We need some players," Kupchak said. "We don't have many players under contract right now. Fortunately, we did sign a good player back in November: Kobe Bryant. So, we have him to rely on."
Kupchak said that they are planning to make big moves this season to become contenders again next season, but they still have no concrete plan at this point because they are waiting for the result of the 2014 NBA Lottery.
"Certainly we're hopeful that we can jump up in the lottery and my understanding is that we can get 1, 2, 3, or we can drop from 6 to 7, 8, 9," Kupchak said. "So a lot of it depends on the fortunes or misfortunes of Tuesday. And then we'll see where we stand. A high pick is valuable. You can select a player, if there is a player there that you like."
