The Los Angeles Lakers have made another move in a busy NBA offseason, adding Miles Simon to their coaching staff. Simon will be an assistant coach under Luke Walton.
Most remember Simon from his days at the University of Arizona, where he won a national championship in his junior year. His NBA career only lasted one season with the Orlando Magic, and then he spent time playing overseas and in the CBA. The Lakers announced the move on their website, and detailed Simon’s credentials:
Simon joins Luke Walton’s staff after serving as a prep coach with USA Basketball. Most recently, Simon served as head coach of the 2017 USA Junior National Select Team for the Nike Hoops Summit, leading the USA to a victory over the World Select Team. Simon won gold medals as an assistant for the 2016 USA Men’s U17 World Championship Team, as well as the 2015 USA Men’s U16 National Team. In addition to his work with USA Basketball, Simon has spent each of the last nine NBA off-season’s working in a player development role with some of the league’s top talent and served as the Director of the Nike Basketball Academy last summer. Simon has also worked as a college basketball analyst for ESPN.
It’s not clear exactly what role Simon will have in Los Angeles, but he is replacing Theo Robertson, who departed to coach at Cal. Simon expressed his gratitude via his Twitter account:
I'm so thankful and blessed to be able to have this opportunity to work for such a great franchise like the @lakers #LakeShow https://t.co/aCS4do64ss
— Miles Simon (@milessimon) June 27, 2017
The Lakers coaching staff will have their work cut out for them with an extremely young roster. As of this writing, Brook Lopez and Luol Deng are the only true veterans on the team, which means that player development will be crucial, and this is where Simon should be able to help.
Still, with a talented young group that will be bolstered by the arrival of Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Josh Hart, and Thomas Bryant, the hope is that the Lakers will begin to turn things around. Rebuilding isn’t easy, but having the right mentors in place, like Simon, can make all the difference.
