Fired ex-Lakers assistant coach lands job with new NBA team
Apr 22, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; The Los Angeles Lakers logo at center court during game three of the 2023 NBA playoffs at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
The Los Angeles Lakers’ trash is now another team’s treasure.
Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer reported this week that former Lakers assistant Chris Jent is joining the Charlotte Hornets. He will sit on the staff of new Hornets head coach Charles Lee.
Jent, 54, is a respected veteran figure who has coached as an assistant for nearly two decades on six different NBA teams. But after spending the last two seasons with the Lakers, he was let go after the team decided earlier this month to fire head coach Darvin Ham. Ham’s entire staff went along with him, including Jent and some other surprising names.
As for the Hornets, they are building a strong supporting cast for Lee, their incoming first-year head coach who is currently an assistant for the Boston Celtics. Jent now joins former Utah Jazz assistant Lamar Skeeter, recently hired by the Hornets to be Lee’s top assistant, and former Chicago Bulls assistant Josh Longstaff on the Charlotte staff.
