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In recent years, one of the biggest criticisms of the Los Angeles Lakers was that their coaching staff was not up to the task, from the top of the bench to the bottom. Now, it seems like every team in the NBA wants a piece of their assistant coaches.
Not only has Jason Kidd been tied to nearly every vacant head coach position in the association, but now his fellow Lakers assistant Phil Handy is also being hunted by another team.
According to a report by The Athletic’s Shams Charania, new Brooklyn Nets head coach Steve Nash wants the Lakers assistant to come to the East Coast and work alongside him:
The Nets are looking for several assistant candidates for head coach Steve Nash’s staff, including Lakers assistant Phil Handy, sources said. Jacque Vaughn will serve as Senior Staff Assistant.
Handy started in the NBA with the Lakers in 2011 as an assistant coach to Mike Brown. Handy remained in the job for the entire 2012-13 season despite Brown being fired. During that time, he worked with Nash, as well as Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol.
It’s also safe to assume that Handy and Nash have crossed paths over the years because of the team they’ve worked for. Nash was hired by the Golden State Warriors as a part-time player development coach in 2015. During that time, the Warriors played the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals three times and the Toronto Raptors once. Handy was on the opposite side in all four series.
For that same reason, Handy is in a relationship with Kyrie Irving, who signed a four-year, $ 141 million deal with the Brooklyn Nets last summer. Irving credits Handy with taking his game to the next level while in Cleveland, and has also said he has a special relationship with Handy off the court.
The dots are not difficult to connect. The question is whether Handy would leave the Lakers after just one season to start over with the Nets, who have more questions than answers heading into the 2020-21 season. That’s especially true now that they’ve hired a head coach for the first time.
Lakers fans should hope the answer to that question is no, especially since Handy will have at least one new prospect to work with in the offseason when the NBA Draft rolls around, but it will ultimately be up to Handy and the team. We’ll see what they find out.
For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast at iTunes, Spotify, Stapler or Google Podcasts. You can follow this author on Twitter at @RadRivas.
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