Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak says Kobe Bryant won’t have a say in head coaching hire

Following the resignation of head coach Mike D’Antoni, which came just a few short years after the sudden firing of Mike Brown, the Los Angeles Lakers are in the bind of having to find a replacement. And with the man that most would assume to be their go-to-guy, Phil Jackson, they really have a tough job ahead of them–in particular, GM Mitch Kupchak has a tough job ahead of him.

Or wait, is it Kupchak and Kobe Bryant who have a tough job ahead of them? Because you know, Bryant did recently say that he wants a say in who his next coach is.

No, according to the Orange County Register, Kupchak himself stated to the media assembled at the NBA Draft Combine on Thursday that Bryant will have nothing to do with the hiring of the next coach. As a matter of fact, there’s no need to even consult him, according to Kupchak.

“From time to time we ask his advice,” Kupchak told ESPN at the NBA’s draft combine. “He really won’t weigh in on something like this. I’m not even sure that we’ll talk to him prior to interviews. He is in our facility and from time to time I’ll go down and talk to him about a bunch of different things.”

Now, if we can get out of Lakers fantasy land here for a moment, this was just fodder for the folks with microphones today. Kobe will absolutely have a say in who’s sitting on the bench with the clipboard and marker pretending to believe that he has control of the team.

Still, putting together the remarks from Bryant recently and Kupchak on Thursday, you’d love to be a fly on the wall for the first conversation that these two do have together.