Lakers: Insider Provides Intriguing Detail about LA Assistant Coach

The Lakers are keeping one of their assistant coaches and he has an interesting story of how he became a part of the league.

The Lakers have a new head coach, which means there are some changes that will be made to the team, especially after the front office gave Darvin Ham more freedom in his decisions. The Lakers front office has allowed Ham to choose who is on his coaching staff and Ham got started quickly. 

After the Lakers parted ways with David Fizdale, Mike Penberthy, and John Lucas III, Ham now needs to find replacements. 

However, two people on the Lakers coaching staff did not get let go - Quinton Crawford and Phil Handy. Quinton Crawford will still be a part of the Laker's staff, which could turn out to be a good thing.

Jason Timpf of Volume Sports had a radio appearance on ESPN Tuson AM1490 where he talked about his knowledge of Crawford and had an interesting story about him. 

Apparently, they used to play pick-up basketball, and sometimes recruiters of U of A would offer a chance to play for the practice squad and Crawford took that opportunity. Timpf talked more about it and how he thinks that helped him become what he is today. 

"But this is the thing, he was super smart to do that and so many people don’t realize that’s such a great way to open opportunities for yourself. He ended up, I think a bunch of the guys who were doing that ended up getting offered positions as walk-ons and then he parlayed that into getting on with the LA Lakers and now he’s sticking in the NBA. I mean a couple of coaches on that staff got let go and he got kept so I’m not surprised."

Darvin Ham is keeping those around him that he thinks will help LA become successful next season, so it is a good sign that Ham wanted him to continue his work for the Lakers. 

Now time will tell if that was the right choice.