Last month, the Los Angeles Lakers fired head coach Frank Vogel just hours after their final regular season game.
It looks like they will take their time in hiring a new head coach, and it is unknown if any current members of the coaching staff will stay on for the next regime.
One of those members, Phil Handy, said on Wednesday’s episode of the “Certified Buckets” podcast that he feels he is ready to move on from being an assistant coach.
Via New York Daily News:
“I am definitely at that point now to where I know I’m ready to be a head coach,” the Lakers’ assistant said in his podcast appearance. “I’m ready to take on my own team and direct the ship in that fashion.”
Handy, 50, has been an assistant with three different teams. He is currently in his second stint with the Purple and Gold.
He recently had an impressive run of reaching the NBA Finals in six consecutive seasons, first with the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2015 to 2018, then with the Toronto Raptors and then in L.A. in 2020.
Handy is known as a player development coach, and he is regarded as one of the best such assistants in the NBA.
The Bay Area native says that he has been working on his craft so that he can become a head coach.
“It’s been a tremendous learning curve for me over the last 11 years and, probably within the last 3 years, I’ve really started trying to put myself in position to be looked at as head coach material,” he said. “Just learning more things about defenses and offenses and breaking down X’s and O’s and game plans and strategies.”
If the Lakers lose Handy, it could be a big loss, especially considering that the team needs to develop young talent if it is going to be competitive in the coming years.
In particular, Austin Reaves, Wenyen Gabriel and Stanley Johnson could benefit from his presence on the coaching staff.
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