Will Nets Consider Lakers Assistants Handy, Kidd For Coaching Vacancy?

Speculation heats up as Brooklyn seeks replacement for Kenny Atkinson.

Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

Los Angeles Lakers assistant Phil Handy is a favorite of star point guard Kyrie Irving and Handy could may be in the mix as the next head coach of the Brooklyn Nets, according to insider Brandon "Scoop B" Robinson of Heavy.com.

Handy was an assistant under Tyronn Lue when Irving was a player in Cleveland and as Robinson noted, Handy and Irving remain close.

One source told Robinson that Handy pushed Irving "a lot" when the two were together with the Cavaliers, "and that Irving still holds Handy in very high regard."

The Nets fired Kenny Atkinson over the weekend and promoted Jacque Vaughn to interim coach. 

Along with Handy, fellow Lakers assistant Jason Kidd could also potentially be on the Nets' radar, Robinson suggested in a separate story. 

Kidd led the franchise to back-to-back Finals appearances in 2002 and '03, and later coached the team for a year (2013-14). Robinson reported that Irving also thinks highly of Kidd -- who Irving grew up watching while growing up in New Jersey.

Meanwhile, ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith said Monday that the Nets have three coaching candidates -- Lue, ESPN analyst Mark Jackson and longtime San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich.

According to @stephenasmith, there are only three candidates to fill the head coaching job with the Brooklyn Nets ...

... one of them is Gregg Popovich. pic.twitter.com/yc6jUkg6zS

— First Take (@FirstTake) March 9, 2020

While information provided by Smith is often brushed off by fans, he is particularly dialed in to the goings-on in the NBA. He was the first to report that LeBron James would leave Cleveland for Miami back in 2010, and was among the first to insist that James was leaving Cleveland for the Lakers in 2018.

Lue is now an assistant under Doc Rivers with the Los Angeles Clippers, and Yahoo Sports reported that Lue is the preferred choice of Irving.

But a source told Robinson that the Irving/Lue speculation is "absolute nonsense."

Along with Vaughn and the others mentioned by Smith, Spurs assistant Becky Hammon, Vanderbilt coach Jerry Stackhouse and Villanova coach Jay Wright may be among those on the Nets' radar, Robinson wrote.

• RELATED: Report of Irving preferring Lue shot down