Report: Jeanie Buss to Have ‘Added Input’ in Los Angeles Lakers Coaching Search

Jeanie Buss will be lending an extra set of eyes to the Los Angeles Lakers' coaching search.

According to the Los Angeles Times' Mike Bresnahan, Buss will be among the key decision-makers who are tasked with putting Mike D'Antoni's successor in place:

She will have added input in finding Mike D'Antoni's replacement, The Times has learned.

Lakers executives Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak will do the majority of the work via phone calls and interviews with numerous candidates but Jeanie Buss will be updated continually and offer feedback if she feels the need.

Before now, it was unclear how involved Buss would be. General manager Mitch Kupchak and vice president Jim Buss were the ones most heavily linked to Los Angeles' latest quest.

But it makes sense that Jeanie would enter the mix. Like Bresnahan says, she holds the "highest" position in the organization. This is the first Lakers coaching search in roughly four decades that hasn't included the late Dr. Jerry Buss, so it's only natural that Jeanie, who sits atop the team's pecking order, would "replace" him.

There are a lot of moving parts to the Lakers' coaching expedition. Per Bresnahan, they'll be interviewing truckloads of candidates, and every member of the Buss family is expected to have some degree of say in who's hired:

The Lakers could ultimately meet with 10 coaching candidates but once the two Buss siblings and Kupchak narrow the field dramatically, a recommendation will be presented to the other four Buss siblings — Joey, Jesse, Johnny Buss and Janie Buss Drexel. There will not necessarily be a vote, but it will be a time for the other siblings to ask questions or voice any vehement objections.

Establishing a chain of command, or familial committee, is the easy part. Picking the right sideline wanderer will be much harder. 

To date, the Lakers have been associated with mostly vetera...

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