NBA Rumors: Lakers Lose Assistant, Rasheed Wallace Still Candidate
One of the few coaches hired by Darwin Ham from the previous roster looks set to head to Dallas. According to multiple reports, assistant Quinton Crawford, who coached the Lakers’ Summer League team last year, will be joining Jason Kidd and the Mavericks.
Quinton Crawford is leaving the Lakers as an assistant coach to join Dallas coach Jason Kidd, sources said. Crawford is considered a promising/bright coach in the NBA. He was Frank Vogel’s assistant with the Lakers for the last 3 seasons; was in the state for 2020.
— Brad Turner (@BA_Turner) June 17, 2022
In Dallas, Greg St. Jean is expected to move to the front of the bench next season, filling the spot vacated by Igor Kokoshkov’s move to Brooklyn, while Crawford will join the Mavericks’ coaching staff as coach. @BA_Turner reports below.
More NBA from me: https://t.co/LGN9cV7Dif https://t.co/FEiVqv40Ro
— Mark Stein (@TheSteinLine) June 18, 2022
Crawford was one of three coaches, along with Phil Handy and John Pastorek, whom Ham hid from Frank Vogel’s coaching staff. However, their number seems to have been reduced to two.
So far, no other assistants for Ham’s new staff have been confirmed. Rashid Wallace’s name was associated with the job, but Ham dismissed the idea that he was hired at the opening press conference. Brad Turner of Los Angeles Times also revealed that Sheed was still a running mate along with Hawks assistant Chris Gent.
Sources: Chris Gent/Rashid Wallace are both candidates for Lakers assistant coach Darwin Ham. Gent is an assistant with Atlanta and was an assistant with Cleveland when LeBron James was there. Wallace and Ham were teammates with Detroit for the 2004 NBA title.
— Brad Turner (@BA_Turner) June 18, 2022
Also, as far as Sheed is concerned, in an interview on the Rich Eisen show yesterday, Ham didn’t say that he would be on staff, but winked, winked, pushed, pushed that it would happen.
On the Rick Eisen show yesterday, Darwin Ham seemed to more or less confirm that Rashid Wallace would be part of his Lakers coaching staff. pic.twitter.com/WRGLPLELk
— Jacob Rude (@JacobRude) June 18, 2022
Meanwhile, Gent had a long career as an assistant coach in college, the G-League, and the NBA. He had a 10-year basketball career in which he played in the NBA, the now defunct Continental Basketball Association, Australia and several European countries.
When his sports career came to an end, Gent first became a coach in Sixers in 2003. He had stops in Orlando, Cleveland, Sacramento and is currently in Atlanta in the NBA with two stints in Ohio as an assistant and one season as head coach of the Pistons affiliated Bakersfield Jam in the G League.
As is often the case, it’s hard to get the details of what an assistant coach does, but Gent is credited with helping John Collins in Atlanta and his outside jumper.
Gent’s introduction to LeBron is interesting and would presumably make him a strong candidate for the job. For now, this remains a wait-and-see approach as Ham looks to fill out his staff while summer training continues.
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