Other than the trade for Anthony Davis, perhaps the other biggest difference between the 2018-19 Lakers and the 2019-20 NBA Champion Lakers was the increased experience and expertise in the Lakers coaching staff. After the Lakers hired Frank Vogel to be their head coach, they spared no expense in trying to have the best coaching staff they could. That meant adding former head coaches like Jason Kidd and Lionel Hollins, but also bringing in one of the most respected assistant coaches in the league for some time, Phil Handy.
Handy started his coaching career as a player development coach with the Lakers in 2011, where he worked with Kobe Bryant. He’s also worked closely with LeBron James both in Cleveland and now in Los Angeles. In a new interview with Hall of Famer David Aldridge of The Athletic, Handy offered the observation that both James and Bryant share a similar work-ethic when it comes to getting better on the court.
“Everybody knows Kob and ‘Bron are different guys, personality-wise,” Handy said. “But their work ethic, and their approach to the game, is identical. The way they study their opponents. The way that they break down their own games. The way that they take care of their bodies off the floor. Just the time spent in terms of wanting to be at the top and wanting to compete, they’re exactly the same in that regard. There are so many similarities in just their Alpha mentality, their competitive spirit, and then their confidence.
“Like, people always question ‘Bron sometimes for whatever decisions he makes, but he’s always been a guy that’s tried to make the right basketball play. (But) being confident? His confidence? His, being around him and Kob, there’s no lack of confidence from either one of those dudes, on anything they can’t do on the floor.”
The Lakers coaching depth was a key change for them in 2020. It was one of the bigger complaints the Lakers management had about Luke Walton’s coaching staff and they did a great job of finding solutions to the issues they felt held them back with the previous coaching administration.
[lawrence-related id=35546,35549]