Terry Stotts Named Finalist for Lakers Coaching Position

Former Portland Trail Blazers Head Coach Terry Stotts has been named a finalist for the Los Angeles Lakers’ vacant position, according to multiple media reports. Stotts coached the Blazers from 2012-2021. He progressed through preliminary interviews with the Lakers, who are now entering the final stages of their search.

Shams Charania of The Athletic gives the most complete list of candidates remaining in L.A.:

Sources: Finalists for the Los Angeles Lakers head coaching job: Bucks assistant Darvin Ham, Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson and former Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts. Next stage of interviews are expected to take place in-person in Los Angeles.

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN confirms:

Milwaukee Bucks assistant Darvin Ham and former Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts are among candidates who’ve advanced to the final round of interviews for the Los Angeles Lakers’ coaching job, sources tell ESPN.

Stotts accumulated a 402-318 record with the Blazers over nine seasons. He led Portland to the NBA playoffs eight times, with a 22-40 record in the postseason. His teams reached the second round three times, the Western Conference Finals once.

The Lakers won the 2020 NBA Finals under then-coach Frank Vogel, but lost in the first round the season after and failed to make the playoffs this year. They field a trio of stars in LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook, but have not been able to gel cohesively.

Stotts also served as head coach for the Atlanta Hawks from 2002-2004 and the Milwaukee Bucks from 2005-2007. His career record as a head coach is 517-486 (.515) in the regular season and 23-44 (.343) in the playoffs.