According to sources, University of Michigan coach Juwan Howard recently declined a Los Angeles Lakers overture for the franchise's coaching job, electing to remain at his alma mater, where Howard will coach his two sons next season.
The Lakers have a formal search process in place, but courting college coaches requires a different level of discretion. Sources said that the Lakers have a list of candidates that include Darvin Ham, Kenny Atkinson, and Terry Stotts. In the near future, the Lakers are expected to conduct in-person interviews.
The Lakers never made a formal offer to Howard, but it is clear that if he had expressed an interest in the job, his candidacy would have moved quickly to that stage. Howard has a playing history with both the Lakers and James, but he has always maintained that he will stay at the University of Michigan, where his two sons Jace and Jett will be a junior and freshman, respectively, next season.
Howard interviewed for the Los Angeles job as a Miami Heat assistant coach before accepting the head-coaching job at the University of Michigan. Howard's success in the college ranks, along with his six-year Heat assistant and two-time NBA champion as a player, has inspired significant interest in him among NBA teams.
Boston Celtics president Brad Stevens was interested in Howard for his coaching opening a year ago, but Howard declined that overture as well. Ime Udoka was hired by the Celtics.
Like Howard, Ham is an ex- player with strong leadership, presence, winning experience, and tactical understanding from past work with high-level head coaches. Sources said that Ham is a strong candidate for the Charlotte Hornets head-coach opening. A decade ago, Ham was an assistant coach for the Lakers.
Both of them have previous NBA head-coaching experience.
In his final eight seasons on the job, Stotts reached the playoffs in six of them, including two trips to the Western Conference semifinals and a spot in the conference finals in 2019. He has an ability to build relationships with his players.
As an assistant and head coach in the NBA, Atkinson built a reputation for player development. He was the head coach of the Nets for three years and led them to a playoff appearance in his third season.
Howard was named national coach of the year in 2021. His time at the UM has included a Big Ten regular-season title and two trips to the NCAA tournament.
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