Lakers owner Jim Buss expressed regret that Kobe Bryant was not consulted about the hiring of Mike Brown.

"Looking back on it, we should have contacted Kobe," Buss says. "Kobe said it was management's job to pick a coach. He just said, 'Defense first.' That's what we were doing, but we should have reached out to him.

How will Kobe take to Brown?

"The way Mike impressed the three of us, I would think Kobe would be impressed as well," he says. "Mike is a workaholic and Kobe is the workaholic."

If Brown couldn't control LeBron James on offense, how is he going to do so with Kobe?

"I've seen Kobe go off the place a few times, but I'm sure the coach will know how to handle it," Buss says. "My dad loves Kobe and so do I; we think he has a lot left. And I know Mike has some ideas on how to elongate Kobe's career."

The New Orleans Hornets have granted the Lakers permission to interview Mike Malone for an assistant job on newly hired Mike Brown's staff, according to league sources.

Prior to the joining the Hornets, Malone spent five seasons as an assistant on Brown's staff with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Brown is seeking to hire assistants that he's work with before.

Malone, who could not be reached for comment Saturday, is considered a defensive mastermind and was instrumental in helping the Hornets emerge as one of the top defensive teams in the league.

Malone has a year remaining on his contract with the Hornets that he signed last summer.

Lakers coach Mike Brown is working on assembling his coaching staff, doing what he can to get some familiar faces back with him.

Brown has contacted New Orleans Hornets coach Monty Williams to express his interest in having Hornets assistant Michael Malone join him in Los Angeles, according to an NBA official briefed on the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly.

Another coach Brown is interested in having on his Lakers staff is Detroit Pistons coach John Kuester, two executives with NBA teams said.

Kuester's job with the Pistons is tenuous because of the revolt from his players during the past season when five of them skipped a practice.

Mike Trudell of Lakers.com interviewed Lakers trainer Gary Vitti. Vitti said there’s no reversing the amount of “joint degeneration” in Kobe Bryant’s knee, but noted that Bryant’s knee is not yet arthritic.

MT: Kobe Bryant said there’s “another level” he can reach physically, the one we’re so accustomed to seeing where he creates separation from defenders and so on. So the question is, how does his having a chance to come in healthier balance out with the attrition you mentioned?

Vitti: We have to do some things so that he feels more comfortable and explosive with that right knee that he’s had repetitive surgeries on. Once we get to that place, then we’d like to see him practice more, but we don’t want the time that he spends on the court being spent on frivolous things. You gotta get him out there when he needs to be out there, and get him off the floor when he doesn’t. It’s more about quality time than quantity time.

MT: Can he be stronger if those things are followed the right way?

Vitti: Yes, I do think he has more progression there, but structurally there are some issues that cannot be reversed, but can be dealt with. There are a couple of cards we have up our sleeve that we plan on playing, and he and I have been in daily communication about that.

MT: What more can you tell us about the specifics of knee injuries for players with so many miles on the court as it might apply to Bryant?

Vitti: What happens with older players -- and this isn’t Kobe’s situation – is that tendinitis turns into tendinosis, and the tendon doesn’t have the same properties that it used to have. As a result it slows them down, and once you become a step slow in this league, it’s very, very difficult to compete. That’s not Kobe’s problem, however. His is an articulating cartilage problem. The way I describe that to people is that if you look at the end of chicken bone where it’s nice and white, well, that’s not bone, it’s cartilage. Sort of like a Teflon surface that when two bones come together, that cartilage is there so that bones don’t rub on each other. Now, the fact that it’s nice and white tells you it doesn’t have a good blood flow to it, and that means it cannot heal or regenerate. So, over time, as that cartilage wears away, you end up with osteoarthritis. Kobe doesn’t have an arthritic knee, but he has a knee that has some joint degeneration to it. His issues and his age are such that it eliminates some procedures, like microfracture and that type of things. But he is a candidate for certain other things, and we know all the procedures all around the world that are available to him, and the appropriate decisions will be made, he’ll have the best care.

Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said on “The Dan Patrick Show” on Thursday morning that Mike Brown was the unanimous choice of him, Lakers vice president of player personnel Jim Buss and Lakers owner Jerry Buss.

Kupchak said Brown impressed in his interview with his “very upbeat” nature (which was captured by colleague Mark Whicker via interviews with people who have known Brown a long time).

“Came through as a very energetic, enthusiastic person,” Kupchak said.

Kupchak noted Brown’s pedigree working under Gregg Popovich and Rick Carlisle in the past — but said Phil Jackson’s triangle offense won’t be entirely gone from the Lakers’ coaching offices.

“The triangle is gone? That’s not true,” Kupchak said. “A lot of the stuff that Mike runs is derivative of the triangle, and he’ll have a lot of stuff that is unique to him.”

On the same day Mike Brown agreed in principle to a four-year, $18.25 million deal to replace Phil Jackson as the next coach of the Lakers, multiple sources told ESPNLosAngeles.com that assistant general manager Ronnie Lester will not be brought back when his contract expires at the end of June.

Lester just completed his 10th season as assistant GM, serving under general manager Mitch Kupchak. The 52-year-old Lester's relationship with the team spans more than 25 years dating back to the 1984-85 season when he signed as a free agent and played the final two seasons of his injury-shortened NBA career with the Lakers, winning a championship in 1985.

He has been with the Lakers virtually ever since, signing on as the team's primary scout for the Midwest region of the United States in 1987-88, one year after retiring because of persistent knee injuries.

The Lakers and former Cleveland Cavaliers coach Mike Brown agreed to a deal Wednesday.

People familiar with Kobe Bryant’s thinking said that the All-Star guard was confused by the decision.

When reached Wednesday by The Times about the Brown hire, Bryant had no comment.

Bryant said earlier this month that he would be comfortable with Assistant Coach Brian Shaw getting the job because of Shaw’s overall knowledge of the franchise, the triangle offense and, of course, the players.

LeBron James was asked about the possibility of his old coach taking over in L.A. after the Heat’s practice on Wednesday, and he was clear with his endorsement.

“If it’s true, when it’s official,” James said, “I think the Lakers got them a great coach.”

James and Brown were together for five years in Cleveland, in which they averaged 54 wins. In each of their last two seasons, they finished with the best record in the league. Even if you have the best player in the world on the floor, you don’t win 60-plus games two years in a row if you don’t have a very competent coach.

Brown’s strength was the defensive end of the floor. The Cavs ranked in the top seven defensively in three of his five seasons on the bench. And almost always, they were even better defensively in the postseason.

“Mike Brown was a great coach,” James said. “He gave us success that we hadn’t had before in that city. And it started with his defensive concepts. He brought in a defensive mind set that we didn’t have.”

Mike Brown is the new coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. Brown and the Lakers agreed in principle Wednesday to a four-year, $18.25 million deal, according to league sources.

The Lakers will announce Brown as the 22nd coach in franchise history. Brown, who is currently in Cleveland, will sign the contract later this week.

The development is a victorious comeback for Brown, who was fired by the Cleveland Cavaliersalmost a year ago to the day. Now, the 41-year-old Brown, the winningest coach in Cavaliers history, is leading one of the most prestigious and successful franchise in modern basketball history.

The Lakers have put together a deal to hire former Cleveland Cavaliers coach Mike Brown as their new coach, an NBA official who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter said late Tuesday.

If Brown agrees to the deal, he'll sign a contract worth between $4 million and $4.5 million per season, the official said. Brown would sign for three years, with a team option on the fourth season that would give him partial pay if he was not retained.

Brown, 41, became the front-runner because Jim Buss, the team's executive vice president of player personnel, was impressed with his defense-minded style.