Who else is a finalist?

They should just let Vinny coach both LA teams.

:lol: From Phil to Mike Brown. Wow, Kobe has to be PISSED

Didnt Kobe supposedly have an issue with Rudy T whether it was respect, philosophical, etc?

But mike brown is walking in that door with Kobe's respect, deference, etc?

Still laughing

Report: Kevin McHale to coach Rockets

The Houston Rockets have reached agreement on a contract for Kevin McHale to become their new coach, Yahoo! Sports is reporting.

ESPN The Magazine's Ric Bucher confirmed Friday that McHale had been offered the job. The Associated Press reported the Rockets and McHale were still in negotiations, citing a source familiar with the situation.

After interviewing numerous coaches in their search to replace Rick Adelman, the Rockets narrowed their focus to McHale, who worked as an analyst for TNT this season, Boston Celtics assistant coach Lawrence Frank and Dallas Mavericks assistant Dwane Casey, according to sources.

McHale, formerly the Minnesota Timberwolves' general manager, was 39-55 in two stints as the Wolves' interim coach. He was 19-12 after taking over for Flip Saunders in the 2004-05 season and posted a 20-43 mark after replacing Randy Wittman for the final 63 games in the 2008-09 season.

:lol: the only thing funnier is Simmons tweets. He's liked and works well with big guys. Yeah true but so what, that describes bill Cartwright. Mchale has sucked horribly at every position he's done relative to the NBA except player

Kuester is out in Detroit. He should've been sent packing during the season. You can't win when half of your roster has zero respect for you. You also can't win with a cast of characters that includes Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva, and Tracy McGrady.

Not exactly coaching related, but Donnie Walsh is out as president and GM of the Knicks. The guy who cleared out all the garbage from Isiah Thomas and got them Amare and Melo gets shitcanned, and rumors say that Isiah could come back to the Knicks again. Please let this happen just for the sake of hilarious Bill Simmons articles.

If you connect the dots, Donnie Walsh's resignation as Team President could mean curtains for Mike D'Antoni as Head Coach of the New York Knicks. I heard something on "The Dan Patrick Show" this morning suggesting that D'Antoni could land on his feet as the new head coach of the Toronto Raptors. While it's unclear if the Raptors want to spend the kind of money D'Antoni's been earning in New York the last 3 seasons, it was revealed a couple days ago that Jay Triano was sent packing after just over 2 disappointing seasons in Toronto.

There could be another head coaching vacancy in the NBA. Current Minnesota Timberwolves' head coach Kurt Rambis spoke to the media today for the first time since the end of the regular season in which the T-Wolves finished with the league's worst record. Rambis has met sparingly with current Minnesota Team President David Kahn since the end of the regular season, but is said to be frustrated that he hasn't been told one way or the other regarding his future...or maybe lack thereof.

Charles Oakley: Assault led to back pain

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Charles Oakley, one of the NBA's all-time tough guys, may not return to the Charlotte Bobcats' bench next season because of a painful back condition he says was caused during an assault last year in Las Vegas.

Oakley, who was in his first season as an assistant coach, had to be carried from the bench before a game in San Antonio on March 19. He missed Charlotte's final 13 games with a sciatic nerve problem.

The 47-year-old Oakley, still moving gingerly, attended Charlotte's workout of draft prospects Saturday. As he contemplates surgery, Oakley said he told general manager Rod Higgins to consider replacing him on coach Paul Silas' staff.

Silas said Saturday there's no timetable for making a decision.

"I want to do what's best for the team, always," Oakley said. "We'll have to see what happens and if I'm not back, they'll have someone just as good as me or better."

Oakley has sued the Aria hotel-casino, claiming he was beaten by security guards in May 2010. Oakley is convinced the incident led to his current condition.

"I wasn't going to sue, but they just did too much damage to me," said Oakley, who filed the suit last month. "It just handicapped me for a period of time and they think it was a joke. I don't want to go into too much detail, but I never tried to assault them. They tried to assault me.

"I'm not a troublemaker. People say, 'You got into a lot of incidents.' Yeah, but it was on the basketball floor."

The complaint contends five officers wrestled the 6-foot-9 Oakley to the ground and punched and handcuffed him after a verbal dispute over whether Oakley could return to a VIP pool area. It said Oakley was taken to the hospital with injuries to his neck, back, head and wrist. Oakley said Saturday two slipped disks suffered in the incident led to the sciatic nerve condition.

"It's like having a nail in your tire. You can only go so far and then the nail keeps going in, going in," Oakley said. "Once it reaches the peak, the hole gets bigger and all the air comes out of your tire. The damage to my disk -- it just couldn't take no more."

The complaint alleges negligence, assault, assault with excessive force, battery, false imprisonment and defamation. It seeks unspecified general, special and punitive damages.

MGM Resorts International, which owns the resort, has declined to comment since the suit was filed.

Oakley, a former teammate of Bobcats owner Michael Jordan in Chicago, was known as a relentless rebounder and collector of hard fouls in his 18-year career. Oakley, who ranks 20th in NBA history with 12,205 boards, also played for New York, Toronto, Washington and Houston.

Oakley was proud to prove he could coach. He routinely worked out with players in practice and was credited with helping Bobcats center Kwame Brown's development late last season.

Then Oakley's body gave out in a jarring scene in San Antonio.

"I hate to go out like that," Oakley said. "It looks like somebody got knocked out of the ring and couldn't get back on his feet. But I'm back walking and hopefully getting my back back together and back to 100 percent."

Oakley said he's moving better and recently started riding a bike. He hopes to avoid surgery.

"I just want to get back to normal," Oakley said. "It's draining sometimes, but you've got to stay strong. ... Hopefully, I'll be back coaching someday. If not, I've got to continue living."