GM Kupchak: Lakers needed ‘new voice’

Los Angeles Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak joined the show to talk about the decision to hire former Cavs coach Mike Brown. Here are some of the things he had to say about the move:

— Kupchak explained why they went outside the organization to find a new coach. “We just thought we needed a new voice with this team,” Kupchak said. “The old staff had been with us for almost 11 years. We didn’t end the season as strongly as we had hoped. We just thought it was time for a change.”

Kupchak said that Brian Shaw is a great coach and may be the Lakers coach some day in the future. He just wasn’t ready for this position right now.

— Kupchak said he didn’t talk to Kobe Bryant yet, and that he understands Kobe found out when the story came out in the media on Wednesday morning. “We didn’t expect it to break yesterday,” Kupchak said. “We expected it to go a day or two longer.”

— Kupchak said they informally talked to five or six coaches, and formally they interviewed three people.

— Kupchak talked about why Brown was an attractive candidate.  “He certainly has great experience at the NBA level,” Kupchak said. “Coaching with Rick Carlisle at Indiana. Gregg Popovich in San Antonio. He was a head coach in Cleveland.”

— Kupchak also said that Brown won’t radically change the offense. Kupchak said Brown runs a derivative of the triangle, and there will be triangle elements moving forward.

— Kupchak speculated on what went wrong this season. He said the Lakers have been on top for a long time with a lot of people clawing at them. “It’s hard to maintain the physical and the mental edge,” Kupchak said.

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