Lakers lose out on rumored big-name hire
Jun 6, 2022; El Segundo, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka speaks before introducing head coach Darvin Ham at UCLA Health Training Center Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
The Los Angeles Lakers appear to have gotten faked out in the post.
The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported on Monday that retired ex-NBA star Rasheed Wallace, after having further conversations with the team, will not be joining Lakers head coach Darvin Ham’s staff after all.
The 47-year-old Wallace, a 16-season NBA veteran and four-time All-Star, was widely rumored to be the Lakers’ next assistant coach hire. Wallace was teammates with Ham on the Detroit Pistons during their playing days, and there they won the 2004 NBA title together. Since retiring, Wallace briefly served as an assistant for the Pistons before becoming an assistant under head coach Penny Hardaway at the University of Memphis last season.
Ham, a first-year head coach, will still have a nice staff that features veteran Lakers assistant Phil Handy, ex-Hawks assistant Chris Jent, and ex-Bucks assistant Schuyler Rimmer. But for Wallace, perhaps the critical remarks that he recently made about LeBron James were too much to overcome.
