Earlier this week, Los Angeles Lakers player development coach Phil Handy said on the “Certified Buckets” podcast that he is “ready to become a head coach” after several years of being an assistant for multiple teams.
He may desire to be a bench leader for an NBA team, but it appears that the Lakers won’t be that team.
“Phil Handy has been an assistant with the Lakers for the last three seasons, and obviously has had tons of success as an assistant coach, has a long history with LeBron James and has interviewed for head coaching jobs in the past, in Washington a year ago,” said Bill Oram on a recent episode of The Athletic’s “The Forum Club” podcast. “Not a name I’ve heard, though, in terms of internally the Lakers looking at Phil Handy.
“Whether that’s because of an overall reset on the coaching staff, or because he doesn’t bring exactly what they’re looking for, hard to say. But I mean obviously (he is) revered as a skills coach in the NBA and this job requires a whole lot of managerial skills, which I think Phil Handy actually does have some of in terms of having the respect of the players, but like you were talking about Jovan, the tactical side of things is going to be so key, especially as the Lakers are probably going to have to get creative again, because it’s going to be difficult to build this roster top to bottom with real, comprehensive depth… So I don’t know if Phil Handy is a guy that you’re going to see in the late stages of this coaching search.”
Handy is regarded as perhaps the best player development coach in the league, and he appears to be a valuable asset to a Lakers team that needs to develop its young talent in order to become competitive again, especially given its dearth of draft picks.
L.A. reportedly has lots of interest in Utah Jazz coach Quin Snyder and Philadelphia 76ers head man Doc Rivers, although it is unclear how mutual that interest really is.
The Lakers have also asked for permission to interview assistant coaches Darvin Ham and Adrian Griffin. The team will reportedly take its time in selecting a new head coach, partly to make sure LeBron James signs off on whoever it chooses.
