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Former NBA Assistant Finally Gets His Shot to Be Head Coach

Jeremy Hanna

Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

A longtime NBA assistant coach is finally getting the opportunity to take on a head coach role.

According to Marc J. Spears of ESPN, Phil Handy, who has been coaching in the NBA since 2011, has been named a head coach for a yet-to-be-named team in the first season of Unrivaled in 2025.

"Former Lakers, Cavs and Raptors assistant coach Phil Handy will become a first-time head coach for a team be named team in the first season of Unrivaled in 2025, sources told [Andscape]," Spears said.

The Unrivaled Basketball League is a "new 3-on-3 professional women's basketball league debuting in Miami in January." The league will feature six teams: the Laces, the Lunar Owls, the Mist, the Phantom, the Rose, and the Vinyl.

Handy will be joined by five other coaches: Adam Harrington, Nola Henry, DJ Sackmann, Andrew Wade, and Teresa Weatherspoon. It has not been revealed who will coach which team.

Handy began his basketball career in college with the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors. In his two seasons with the University of Hawaii, he averaged 10 points, 3.7 total rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 0.6 steals per game across 62 games. He was a WAC champion and a first-team All-Defense selection.

Handy entered the 1995 NBA Draft but went undrafted. He played with the Golden State Warriors and Portland Trail Blazers but spent most of his playing time in different teams around the world, including the Omaha Racers, Manchester Giants, and the West Sydney Razorbacks.

While he didn't see much success as a player, Handy came into his own as a coach. He began as a development coach for the Los Angeles Lakers under Mike Brown from 2011-2013 before serving as an assistant coach for Brown with the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2013-2018.

After working with Brown, Handy served as assistant coach with the Toronto Raptors from 2018-2019 and returned to the Lakers from 2019-2024.

In his 13-year coaching career, Handy went to six consecutive NBA Finals: four with the Cavaliers (2015-2018), one with the Raptors (2019), and one with the Lakers (2020). His teams won three championships in 2016, 2019, and 2020. He also helped Los Angeles win the inaugural NBA Cup in 2023.

Needless to say, Handy is going to be a great addition to Unrivaled, especially with his skill for player development. Whichever team he coaches, there's no doubt that they will be a contender.

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Jeremy Hanna
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