At Last, Rudy Tomjanovich No Longer Works for the Lakers

It’s not very well known among non-Laker fanatics, but Rudy Tomjanovich has remained on the team’s payroll since he abruptly left his head coaching position in LA back in 2005, but that’s no longer the case. Reports the OC Register: “The Rudy Tomjanovich era of Lakers history is officially over — at the same time as the Phil Jackson era. At Tomjanovich’s request to stay somewhat involved in the game, he was kept on by Lakers owner Jerry Buss as a very well-compensated special consultant upon stepping down as Lakers head coach on Feb. 2, 2005 — and Tomjanovich remained tied to the Lakers until this year in an informal role. But Tomjanovich’s agreement to provide periodic scouting and consulting for the team has now expired, and he won’t be retained. It remains possible Tomjanovich could remain in touch in a distant, different way, as he and son Trey recently made a presentation to Mike Brown’s new Lakers coaching staff about hiring them for their basketball statistical program. Trey Tomjanovich has provided software to the Lakers before, and his father’s reports to Jackson’s staff became increasingly stats-based.”