When the Los Angeles Lakers announced the hiring of Darvin Ham as the team’s new head coach, potential assistant coaches to add to his staff immediately began being rumored. One of the first names to be brought up was former NBA All-Star Rasheed Wallace.
Wallace joining made sense as he had previously spent time as an assistant with the Detroit Pistons and spent last season on the staff of Penny Hardaway at the University of Memphis. Additionally, Wallace and Ham have a previous relationship being teammates on the Pistons’ 2004 Championship team.
But after much rumor and speculation, it looks as if Wallace will not be joining Darvin Ham’s coaching staff this season according to Shams Charania of The Athletic:
After further conversations, former NBA All-Star Rasheed Wallace will no longer join new Lakers coach Darvin Ham’s staff, sources said. Wallace served as an assistant under Penny Hardaway at the University of Memphis last season.
Ham admitted that he was still working on trying to get Wallace to join the staff as the former All-Star working with big man Anthony Davis would have been excellent. But ultimately, Wallace apparently has decided against the move.
While unfortunate, Ham still has the makings of an excellent coaching staff with the Lakers. Holdover Phil Handy remains one of the best and most respected developmental coaches in the entire league and the Lakers hired Chris Jent from the Atlanta Hawks to serve as the team’s top assistant.
Ham may have not gotten everyone he wanted for his coaching staff, but he will undoubtedly pivot towards another name to add to his staff to ensure he is able to get the most out of this Lakers roster and succeed in his first head coaching opportunity.
Ham says Westbrook was one of the things that excited him about coaching Lakers
As far as the current roster is concerned, Ham remains extremely excited about the opportunity ahead of him and that includes point guard Russell Westbrook. While the front office has continued to explore potential deals on the point guard, Ham has continually praised the future Hall of Famer.
In fact, in a recent podcast appearance, Ham said Westbrook was one of the things that got him excited about coaching the Lakers. Ham spoke about the conversations he has had with Westbrook and continues to preach his belief that the point guard can thrive under his direction in the system he is bringing in.
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