Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant hopes the team’s management will seek out his advice when they hire a new coach.
Bryant, speaking on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” Thursday night, said he was not consulted when the last two coaches, Mike Brown and Mike D’Antoni, were hired.
“On the last two they didn’t,” Bryant said. “On the third one, I’m hoping they do.”
Bryant did not have anyone specific in mind but there is an “open-door policy” in place between him and the front office.
“We talk back and forth,” Bryant said. “We’ll text or I’ll sit down with him.”
Bryant, 35, missed much of last season with a knee injury after coming back from a torn Achilles tendon. He is coming back for a 19th season and a contract that pays him $24 million annually and says he is fully healthy.
Even though Bryant wants a say in who the next coach will be, he does not want the team to play favorites while considering who to hire.
“Honestly it’s not really about whether the players like the coach or not,” Bryant said. “It’s really about getting results. Liking somebody and those results don’t necessarily go hand-in-hand.
“Sometimes when a coach is driving you, you don’t necessarily like it, but it’s a part of the process and then once you win, everybody is buddy-buddy after that.”
The last two hires did not go well. Brown succeeded Phil Jackson in May 2011. After coaching the 2011-12 season, he was let go five games into the 2012-13 season. D’Antoni replaced Brown and lasted nearly two full seasons. He stepped down after the team went 27-55 in 2013-14 and refused to extend his contract.
Bryant said he was apathetic about D’Antoni’s resignation.
“Honestly I didn’t care,” Bryant said.
He did say that the Lakers job is not an easy one as the expectations are very high.
“Mike was dealt a really bad hand in dealing with all the injuries that he had here,” Bryant said. “This is a tough place, man. If you’re not winning, you’re not going to survive, man.”
He also said that former Lakers star Magic Johnson’s tweet in which he celebrated D’Antoni leaving reminded him of a scene from “The Wizard of Oz.”
“The first thing I thought of was seeing the Munchkins on the Yellow Brick Road dancing and singing, ‘The Wicked Witch is dead,’ ” Bryant said. “When he tweeted that, that song just came to mind.”
Bryant said he still talks to Jackson often and is confident he will do well in his new role as the New York Knicks’ president.
“I think he’ll do fantastic,” Bryant said. “Especially the more people say that he won’t be successful.”
He expressed similar confidence in Lakers president Jeanie Buss and executive vice president of player personnel Jim Buss.
“Jimmy and Jeanie both, they’re just really determined and excited about the possibilities of next season and rebuilding this and building on their father’s legacy and everything that he’s accomplished,” Bryant said. “And they’re taking the challenge extremely, extremely seriously. They’re both on the same page and they want nothing but excellence here, so I have no doubt that we’ll make it happen.”