Lakers hire Rasheed Wallace as assistant coach

New Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham is adding four-time NBA All-Star Rasheed Wallace to his coaching staff, The Athletic reported Monday, June 6 (Tuesday, June 7, Manila time).

Wallace spent last season as an assistant coach at the University of Memphis under Penny Hardaway, who hinted that Wallace would be joining the Lakers, per the report.

Wallace, 47, and Ham were teammates on the Detroit Pistons’ 2004 NBA championship squad.

During his introductory press conference with the Lakers later on Monday, Ham said news of a Wallace hire was “not true at all,” with the negotiations still “fluid.”

“In regards to Rasheed, that’s an active situation, that’s fluid,” Ham said. “He’s definitely a candidate that we’ll take a look at, but we’re working through that. We have a list of names and some people that’s currently under contract and we’re working with some really, really talented coaches. We’re working through that in order to pick the best staff possible.”

Wallace averaged 14.4 points and 6.7 rebounds in 1,109 games (956 starts) with the then-Washington Bullets, Portland Trail Blazers, Atlanta Hawks, Pistons, Boston Celtics, and New York Knicks. He was the No. 4 overall pick in the 1995 NBA Draft by Washington.

Wallace was an assistant coach with the Pistons from 2013-14 and coached at Jordan High School in Durham, North Carolina, from 2019-2020.

The Lakers officially named Ham as the head coach last Friday, June 3 (Saturday, June 4, Manila time) to replace Frank Vogel, who was fired in April after a disappointing 33-49 season in 2021-2022. – Rappler.com