LOS ANGELES _ The Los Angeles Lakers are poised to make an offer to Tyronn Lue to become their next head coach, and he will come with two endorsers who have 10 Lakers championships between them.
Phil Jackson, who coached Lue, and Magic Johnson, who stepped down as the Lakers' president of basketball operations last month, told Lakers co-owner Jeanie Buss that they supported the hiring of Lue, according to a person familiar with their discussions.
Buss and the Lakers have spent more than a week mulling their options, which were down to Lue and Philadelphia assistant Monty Williams.
Johnson and Buss had a dinner Thursday night during which they discussed Buss' pending decision. Johnson expressed his support for Lue and impressed upon Buss how difficult a feat it is to make three consecutive NBA Finals appearances, the source said. Buss had been taking her time to be deliberate and not have the Lakers rush into any decision.
Then one domino fell on Friday morning. The Phoenix Suns hired Williams, whom the Lakers interviewed twice, as their new coach, the Suns announced Friday morning.
While the Lakers had always considered Lue the front-runner because of his ties to both the organization as a former player and as LeBron James' former coach, the Suns' announcement spurred them to action. Shortly after Williams' hire, Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka set to work to reach out to Lue's representatives.
All of this comes after a week of complete silence from the Lakers. Having conducted second interviews with Lue and Williams on April 24 and 25, neither candidate had heard from the Lakers through Thursday afternoon, according to people familiar with the situation.
The Lakers have been without a head coach since April 12 when they mutually agreed to part ways with Luke Walton. A day later Walton reached an agreement to coach the Sacramento Kings.
Williams was head coach of New Orleans from 2010 to 2015, leading the team to two playoff appearances, including one with All-Star forward Anthony Davis. Williams had a record of 173-221 and was fired after a first-round loss in the playoffs to the Golden State Warriors.
Williams joined Billy Donovan's staff in Oklahoma City as an associate head coach after his departure from New Orleans. In February 2016, Williams' wife was killed in a car accident. He took several months away from coaching to grieve and care for his family.
When Williams returned to coaching, it was to join the Team USA staff. He also took a front office position with the San Antonio Spurs and this season joined the Philadelphia 76ers' staff.
Since the moment the Lakers signed James, rumors began surfacing that Lue would eventually be the Lakers' head coach. The Cavaliers fired Lue in October after an 0-6 start to the season, but his tenure coaching James produced a championship and two other trips to the Finals.
The championship he won with James in 2016 marked Cleveland's first professional sports title in more than 50 years. Walton reached out to Lue after the Lakers acquired James for advice about how to coach James.
Lue and James remained close and are both expected to attend the boxing match between Canelo Alvarez and Daniel Jacobs on Saturday in Las Vegas, where Lue has a home.
There were some in the Lakers organization who worried about the perception that if they hired Lue, James had too much power within the organization. Ultimately, the Lakers have decided not to worry about such perceptions.
