Sources - Michigan men's basketball coach Juwan Howard declines Los Angeles Lakers' interest

University of Michigan coach Juwan Howard recently declined a Los Angeles Lakers overture for the franchise's coaching job, electing to remain at his alma mater, where Howard will coach his two sons next season, sources told ESPN.

The Lakers have a formal search process in place, but courting college coaches typically requires a different level of discretion. The Lakers have a finalist list of Milwaukee Bucks assistant Darvin Ham, Golden State Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson and former Portland Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts, sources said. The Lakers are expected to conduct in-person interviews in the near future.

The Lakers never made a formal offer to Howard, sources said, but it's clear that if he had expressed an interest in the job, his candidacy would've moved quickly to that stage. While Howard has a playing history with Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka and star LeBron James, he has consistently maintained he plans to remain in Ann Arbor, where his sons Jace and Jett will be a junior and freshman, respectively, next season.

Howard interviewed for the Los Angeles job as a Miami Heat assistant coach in 2019, before accepting the head-coaching job at Michigan. Howard's success in the college ranks — along with his résumé as a six-year Heat assistant and a two-time NBA champion as a player — has inspired significant interest in him among NBA teams.

Boston Celtics president Brad Stevens was interested in Howard for his coaching opening a year ago, but Howard declined that overture too, sources said. The Celtics hired Brooklyn Nets assistant Ime Udoka.

Like Howard, Ham is another ex-player with strong leadership, presence, winning experience and tactical understanding from past work with high-level head coaches.