New coach Darvin Ham to retain some Lakers assistants, including Phil Handy
New Lakers coach Darvin Ham has started to put together his coaching staff for the upcoming season, retaining some of the current staff from last year’s team and letting go others who were a part of fired coach Frank Vogel’s staff.
Ham will bring back assistants Phil Handy, Quinton Crawford and Jon Pastorek, The Times has confirmed with people with knowledge of the situation who asked for anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
Ham has informed assistants David Fizdale, Mike Penberthy and John Lucas III that they won’t be retained.
Ham and Handy worked together for the first time under former Lakers coach Mike Brown starting in the 2011-12 season. Handy was hired at the time as a player development coach.
Crawford was hired by Vogel in 2019 after the two spent time together with the Orlando Magic, where Crawford was the team’s video coordinator.
Pastorek is a player development coach with the Lakers.
“I like coaches that like to roll up their sleeves and are able to get out there,” Ham said Monday when he was introduced as coach of the Lakers at the team’s practice facility in El Segundo.
It’s easy to like and root for new Lakers coach Darvin Ham to succeed, but with the current roster, will the players heed the emotion he brings?
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