Lakers Fire 3 Assistant Coaches

It's pretty standard for a new head coach to surround himself with his own personally-appointed staff. That process has now begun in earnest for the Los Angeles Lakers. 

Under the guidance of newly-minted coach Darvin Ham, the Lakers have let go assistants David Fizdale, Mike Penberty and John Lucas III. But two names are notably sticking around.

There it is. The Lakers keep their most important assistant coach. https://t.co/nyftM70Fsg

— Sam Quinn (@SamQuinnCBS) June 7, 2022

Many consider Phil Handy to be one of the best assistants in the NBA, and he indeed will be a part of Ham's new staff, along with the other holdover Quinton Crawford.

Handy was a player-development coach with the Lakers back in 2011-12, while Ham was an assistant for Mike Brown on the same LA team. 

Handy has since gone on to be part of championship staffs in Cleveland and Toronto, before returning to the Lakers three years ago. 

Ham says all of his assistants will need to be the do-it-all types. "Where I come from the last nine years, we did everything. We did player development. We did scouting. I had to step in as the head coach on a few occasions. But it was a team. It wasn't coordinators on either side of the ball. We all pitched in on all aspects of our team basketball offensively and defensively. So, I'm looking to build that similar type of staff."

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