Lakers Will Not Retain David Fizdale, Two Other Assistants, per Report

New head coach Darvin Ham is wasting no time altering his coaching staff.

One day after being formally introduced as the Lakers’ new head coach in an introductory press conference, Darvin Ham is already making moves to assemble his coaching staff.

Ham has reportedly informed assistants David Fizdale, Mike Penberthy and John Lucas III that they will not be retained, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin and Adrian Wojnarowski. The report comes a day after news surfaced that Ham was in the process of hiring Rasheed Wallace as one of his assistants.

Fizdale, who has spent four years as an NBA head coach (two with the Grizzlies and two with the Knicks), was hired by Frank Vogel in September 2021. Fizdale got his head coaching start in Memphis, guiding the Grizzlies to the playoffs in ’16–17 before getting fired 19 games into the ’17–18 season. He then was hired by the Knicks, but was again fired midway through his second season.

Penberthy had been with L.A. since Vogel’s first year with the franchise. He had previously been an assistant with the Pelicans. Lucas had just completed his first year with the Lakers after previously working as an assistant with the Timberwolves.

During his introductory press conference, Ham also addressed how he views Russell Westbrook fitting into the picture for next season. He called Westbrook “one of the best players our league has ever seen,” and said that the two had discussed how sacrifice would factor heavily into his future role with the team.

“Don’t get it messed up: Russ is one of the best players our league has ever seen,” Ham said about the former league MVP. “There’s still a ton left in that tank. I don’t know why people tend to try to write him off.”

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