The Los Angeles Lakers have requested permission to interview Raptors assistant coach Adrian Griffin for their head coaching vacancy, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Raptors president and chairman Masai Ujiri said at his end-of-season press conference yesterday that he’s been receiving calls for interviews with Griffin and other Raptors assistant coaches, per Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca.
Griffin started his NBA career as a player, appearing in 477 games (179 starts) across nine NBA seasons from 1999-2008 with career averages of 4.0 points and 3.2 rebounds in 16.9 minutes. He made a quick transition to coaching, getting his start at just 34 years old, the season after he retired as a player.
Griffin, 47, has been an assistant coach with the Milwaukee Bucks, Chicago Bulls, Orlando Magic, Oklahoma City Thunder and Raptors over the past 14 seasons, having been with Toronto since 2018-19.
The Lakers were rumored to be interested in Raptors head coach Nick Nurse, but both Nurse and Ujiri poured cold water on that recently. Griffin is now the second official candidate interviewing for the Lakers lead coaching job, following Bucks assistant Darvin Ham.
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