LeBron James is having a reunion in The City of Brotherly Love.
Dallas Mavericks assistant coach Phil Handy is leaving the team to become an assistant with the Philadelphia 76ers, Marc J. Spears of Andscape reported on Friday. After spending just one season on the Mavericks’ coaching staff, Handy is now officially heading East.
The 54-year-old Handy has plenty of history with the new 76ers superstar James. The two first worked together on the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2014-18 with Handy serving as an assistant coach on the James-led team that won the 2016 NBA championship.
Handy and James then reunited on the Los Angeles Lakers from 2019-24. The former was an assistant under head coach Frank Vogel when the Lakers won the title in the 2020 Orlando bubble, and he also later served as an assistant coach under Vogel’s successor Darvin Ham.
After Ham’s firing by the Lakers in 2024, Handy joined the Mavericks in 2025 to serve under their then-head coach Jason Kidd (who was also an assistant coach on the Lakers’ 2020 championship team). But Dallas fired Kidd earlier this summer, and Handy will not be continuing on the staff of new Mavericks head coach Dusty May.
Now in Philadelphia, Handy will also be reuniting with 76ers head coach Nick Nurse, whom he already served with as an assistant on the Toronto Raptors when Nurse led them to the 2019 NBA title. Known for his strong track record in player development and his emotional style of leadership, Handy figures to be a prominent figure next season on a high-expectations 76ers team.
