The day after the Los Angeles Lakers introduced Darvin Ham as their new head coach, they announced he would be keeping two assistants โ and one of them is a former Arizona Wildcat.ย
Quinton Crawford, who has spent the last three seasons as the Lakers' head video coordinator and assistant coach under now fired Frank Vogel, will stay as an assistant on Ham's staff, along with veteran assistant Phil Handy, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. David Fizdale, Mike Penberty and John Lucas IIIย will not be kept.ย
During his introductory press conference, Ham said,ย "I like coaches that like to roll up their sleeves and are able to get out there."
"Where I come from the last nine years, we did everything. We did player development. We did scouting. I had to step in as the head coach on a few occasions. But it was a team. It wasn't coordinators on either side of the ball," Ham said. "We all pitched in on all aspects of our team basketball offensively and defensively. So, I'm looking to build that similar type of staff."
Crawford, a walk-on for the Wildcats from 2011-13, helped the Lakers win a championship in 2020, when the NBAย "bubbled" in Orlando during the pandemic-influenced season. Fellow Arizona product Miles Simon was also an assistant coach on Vogel's staff, but accepted the head coaching position of the South Bay Lakers, L.A.'s G League affiliate, this season.
