Derek Fisher shocked Lakers didn’t try harder to hire him

The Los Angeles Lakers put out a mild feeler to former player Derek Fisher to see if he’d be interested in coaching the team, but little ever came from it and apparently, that was the fault of the Lakers according to Fisher himself.

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Speaking to the media, Fisher did state that the Lakers had some interest in him and that the two sides did have informal talks, but nothing more came from those talks and he was shocked Los Angeles didn’t make better attempts to sign him as their next head coach according to Mark Medina.

Derek Fisher on Lakers: “It was a very casual, informal reach out from the Lakers. I don’t know if they ever considered me.” Fisher said he was “surprised” Lakers indicated they wouldn’t pursue him. Fisher said he told Lakers he was already far down the road with Phil Jackson. So unless they had serious interest in him, it would be hard.

Fisher, despite being a longtime member of the Lakers, has no prior coaching experience outside of playing point guard on an NBA court so it’s possible the Lakers decided early on they want somebody with experience on the sidelines.

It’s a fair argument, if that does indeed prove to be true as Fisher is a bit of an unknown as a head coach.

As for the Lakers, they’re still continuing to interview candidates for their head coaching vacancy and don’t appear any closer to filling it than they were when the offseason began.