As the Los Angeles Lakers get closer to selecting a new head coach to oversee the closure of the LeBron James Era, three finalists have emerged for the gig: Milwaukee Bucks assistant coach Darvin Ham, former Portland Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts (per Woj), and Golden State Warriors assistant and ex-Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson.

As The Athletic's Shams Charania reported, the finalists will conduct the next round of interviews in-person. Jeanie Buss will now get involved in the interview process.

Thus far, the Lakers interview team has consisted of vice president and general manager Rob Pelinka, senior basketball advisor Kurt Rambis, and executives Joey and Jesse Buss. Jeanie also receives input from Phil Jackson, Magic Johnson, and executives Tim Harris and Linda Rambis.

Ham, a former player, has worked as an assistant since 2008 and has been considered for numerous head coaching jobs. He spent time as a Lakers assistant from 2011-13 and has worked under Mike Budenholzer with the Atlanta Hawks and Bucks since 2014. He has made the “strongest impression” thus far, per The Athletic.

Stotts, a tactical offensive guru, compiled a.558 win percentage and led the Blazers to a conference finals berth in nine seasons.

Atkinson enjoyed a successful run as Nets skipper before Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant decided they wanted a change in leadership. Atkinson — a player-development specialist — has served on Ty Lue and Steve Kerr's staffs over the past two seasons.

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At exit interviews, Pelinka said the Lakers “with, obviously, superstars on our team…want a strong voice that’s able to inspire the players to play at the highest level of competition every night. And I think that’s gonna be one of the resounding qualities that we look for in terms of holding everybody — from the top player on our team to the 15th man — to a degree of accountability.”

Naturally, that criteria would imply a candidate who either played in the NBA and/or has previous head coaching experience. Ham offers the former, Stotts and Atkinson the latter (Stotts played overseas).

The Lakers also interviewed Mark Jackson, Charles Lee, and Adrian Griffin, who now seem to be out of the running.

Pelinka said he hopes to have a coach in place before the June 23rd NBA Draft.