Rasheed Wallace is returning to the NBA as an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Lakers!!
The Los Angeles Lakers have already completed the difficult task of selecting a good coach to replace Frank Vogel, who was fired following the regular season. Darvin Ham, a former assistant coach with the Milwaukee Bucks, was appointed to replace that position last week, marking his first head coaching job in the league. After working under Mike Budenholzer in both Atlanta and Milwaukee for several years, Ham is well-regarded throughout the league, and he’s only a year removed from being part of a championship-winning coaching staff with the Bucks. With Ham in place, he’ll now focus on putting together his assistant coaching team, with one candidate apparently already secured.
The news broke out on Monday. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, former Memphis assistant and NBA star Rasheed Wallace has agreed to join the Lakers as an assistant coach. Wallace will team up with new coach Darvin Ham, with whom he previously worked as a member of the Detroit Pistons from 2004 to 2005.
Wallace has worked as an assistant coach before, most recently with the Detroit Pistons from 2013 to 2014 and the Memphis Tigers last season.
In fact, Penny Hardaway, the Tigers’ head coach, told a local reporter in Memphis that Wallace was likely to sign with the Lakers.
Wallace spent the previous year at the University of Memphis as a collegiate assistant coach under Penny Hardaway. Hardaway expected and hinted at his departure from the Memphis coaching staff to join the Lakers on Monday morning.
“I believe Rasheed will travel to Los Angeles with Darvin Ham. That was the plan from the start “According to The Commercial Appeal, Hardaway stated. “Rasheed had already promised Darvin that if he found a job last year, he would accompany him. So, with him earning the Lakers position, I’m expecting [Wallace] will stick with that procedure this year.”
In his evaluation of the scenario, Hardaway was correct. Ham and Wallace have been friends since they were teammates on the Detroit Pistons when they won the NBA title in 2004. (ironically enough, against the Lakers). They seem to have remained close throughout the years, and now they’ll be able to collaborate once more.
As an assistant coach, Wallace will undoubtedly offer some edge to the Lakers. During his career, he was renowned for being an aggressive, in-your-face player, so perhaps some of those intangibles can be valuable in working with the Lakers next season.
Wallace played 16 seasons for the Washington Bullets, Blazers, Hawks, Pistons, Celtics, and Knicks before becoming a coach.
The four-time All-Star spent his best years with the Blazers and Pistons, where he won an NBA title in 2004.
Wallace will now be entrusted with assisting Ham in getting the Lakers back into the playoffs. With LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook on the roster, the Lakers ended 33–49 last season and are in desperate need of a new start.
