Bobcats asks to talk to Rockets assistant Kelvin Sampson

Rockets assistant Rockets assistant Kelvin Sampson is on the radar of the Charlotte Bobcats for their vacant head coaching job. (Scott Halleran/Getty Images)

The Charlotte Bobcats requested permission to speak with Houston Rockets assistant coach Kelvin Sampson about their vacant head coaching job, reports the Houston Chronicle.

The Bobcats are looking to replace Mike Dunlap, who was fired last week after only one season with the team. The Bobcats finished the 2012-13 season with a 21-61 record.

Houston is currently down three games to one in their first-round series with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Sampson has been on the Rockets staff since 2011 after spending three seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks. He was a candidate for the Brooklyn Nets job when Avery Johnson was fired in December.

Sampson is a Charlotte resident and was acting head coach during head coach Kevin McHale’s absence in the midseason to deal with personal issues.

Sampson was a college head coach at Washington, Oklahoma and Indiana, leading the Sooners to the Final Four in 2002. He resigned at Indiana in 2008 amid an NCAA investigation.