Lakers News: LA Hires 2 Longtime Head Coaches to Serve as JJ Redick Assistants

The Purple and Gold adds some new free agent faces... kind of.

Jul 2, 2024; El Segundo, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick at a press conference at the UCLA Health Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Lakers are signing some new free agents at last!

Unfortunately, neither has played an NBA game since 1999.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Los Angeles is finally shoring up its bench behind first-time head coach JJ Redick, hiring former longtime NBA players-turned head coaches Nate McMillan and Scott Brooks to serve as assistant coaches on Redick's staff.

McMillan, a former two-time All-Defensive Team combo guard with the Seattle SuperSonics, eventually returned to that franchise to become its head coach, starting in the 2000-01 season. He has gone on to lead the Portland Trail Blazers, Indiana Pacers and Atlanta Hawks as well through the decades, boasting a 760-668 overall regular season record and a 28-48 playoff record. He led the Hawks to the Eastern Conference Finals during the 2020-21 season, his furthest-ever playoff run, where the team fell in six games to the Milwaukee Bucks.

Brooks, a former journeyman point guard, began his head coaching career with the Oklahoma City Thunder (during that team's first season since cruelly ditching Seattle and rebranding), and led a team that featured a young Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Serge Ibaka to the 2012 NBA Finals. Brooks also served as the head coach for the Washington Wizards., and most recently had been on Hall of Fame player Chauncey Billups' staff as an assistant coach for the lowly Portland Trail Blazers. He's gone 521-414 as a head coach in the regular season, and 49-48 in the playoffs.

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