Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Bruce Pearl’s next move? Probably NBA’s D-League

spt-110802-bruce-pearl

Mike Miller

As Bruce Pearl awaits word if he’ll face further punishment from the NCAA, he’s finding that his college coaching options are limited.

That makes any NBA job appealing. Yes, ANY job in the NBA. Including the D-League.

The Texas Legends will interview the ex- Tennessee coach on Thursday in Dallas, according to ESPN.com. One source says “The job is [Pearl’s] is he wants it.”

Pearl has a simpler explanation.

“When the world champions call you have to listen,” Pearl told Andy Katz. “Mark Cuban and Donnie Nelson have been great and I’m looking forward to talking to them.”

The Legends hope hiring Pearl makes them the D-League’s most high-profile franchise, giving them a big-name coach in the same market as the reigning NBA champion Dallas Mavericks. (For what that’s worth.) As for Pearl, he’d have the chance to coach even if the NBA stays locked out when the season begins.

Sure, Pearl’s outsized ego might be a stretch in the NBA – let alone the D-League – but he’s open to any and all options right now. He already kicked around the idea of coaching the Maine Red Claws. Why not the Legends?

“Right now college is not an option for me,” Pearl told ESPN.com. “I’ve always enjoyed working with players and coaching them during their development.”

You also can follow me on Twitter @MikeMillerNBC.