One day after being formally introduced as the Lakers’ new head coach in an introductory press conference, Darvin Ham is already making moves to assemble his coaching staff.
Ham has reportedly informed assistants David Fizdale, Mike Penberthy and John Lucas III that they will not be retained, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin and Adrian Wojnarowski. The report comes a day after news surfaced that Ham was in the process of hiring Rasheed Wallace as one of his assistants.
Fizdale, who has spent four years as an NBA head coach (two with the Grizzlies and two with the Knicks), was hired by Frank Vogel in September 2021. Fizdale got his head coaching start in Memphis, guiding the Grizzlies to the playoffs in ’16–17 before getting fired 19 games into the ’17–18 season. He then was hired by the Knicks, but was again fired midway through his second season.
