Toronto Raptors assistant coach Phil Handy will become the newest addition to the Los Angeles Lakers staff. The Undefeated was the first to report the news.
The Lakers are hiring Phil Handy as an assistant coach, a source said. The former Raptors assistant will be at the front of the bench with the Lakers. He also coached in five straight NBA Finals winning two titles.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) July 14, 2019
The Lakers are working hard to rebuild not only their squad, but also the coaching staff after they hired head coach Frank Vogel in May. Los Angeles also added former Brooklyn Nets head coaches Lionel Hollins and Jason Kidd to serve as Vogel’s assistants, while Brian Shaw is the only assistant who worked for the previous head coach, Luke Walton.
Working for the Los Angeles Lakers is not new to Handy as he worked in player development for the Lakers from 2011 to 2013. Handy then moved to the Cleveland Cavaliers where he served as an assistant coach between 2013 and 2018 before his switch to the Toronto Raptors.
He spent only one year as the Raptors assistant, but it was enough to win the NBA championship, and now he’ll try to do the same with the Lakers and under Vogel.
During his eight-year career as an NBA coach, Phil Handy has had an opportunity to work with such superstars like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kawhi Leonard, and he is well-known as a great individual coach. He helped improving Kyrie and LeBron’s game and did a marvelous job in improving Kawhi and Pascal Siakam, helping the latter to win the Most Improved Player award at the end of the last season. Considering that James and Anthony Davis are already developed and established players, Handy could do a fantastic job with coaching Kyle Kuzma, who has a lot of potential.
