Lakers News: Additional Darvin Ham Assistant Coaches Revealed
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In a fresh press release, your Los Angeles Lakers have announced that some new faces will be joining first-year L.A. head coach Darvin Ham and previously-announced Frank Vogel-era holdover assistants Phil Handy and Jon Pastorek, plus Dru Anthrop. Earlier this summer, the Los Angeles Times had reported that another former Vogel assistant, Quinton Crawford, would be retained, but the statement from L.A. this week makes no mention of Crawford.
All these new faces benefit from years of assistant coaching staff experience, be that on the bench, in the video room, or, in some cases, both those gigs. Ham is also adding some old friends from his assistant days under current Milwaukee Bucks and former Atlanta Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer.
Recent Atlanta Hawks and Sacramento Kings assistant coach Chris Jent, longtime Brooklyn Nets assistant coach Jordan Ott, former Detroit Pistons assistant coach J.D. DuBois, former Bucks and Hawks assistant video coordinator Schuyler Rimmer (who served alongside Ham under Mike Budenholzer) and ex-Oklahoma City Thunder player development coach Zach Peterson are the new names filling out Ham's bench this year. Prior to Peterson's Thunder tenure, he had also worked with Ham and Budenholzer in Atlanta and Milwaukee.
Building out such a broad sideline support system is a great plan for Ham, 49, during his first year as the lead locker room voice for a team. Expectations for L.A. are somewhat muted this season, which could give Ham some space to experiment a bit with rotation decisions. He and his team are expected to focus on improving the club's defense, with a roster that looks very different from the disappointing 33-49 2021-22 team.
