Lakers add pair of former head coaches to staff

Nate McMillan.

The Lakers plan to hire a couple of veteran head coaches to be the top assistants on JJ Redick‘s staff, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who reports that Nate McMillan and Scott Brooks are joining the team.

McMillan and Brooks are the first assistants confirmed to be joining Redick’s staff. The Lakers had been looking for experienced coaches as Redick is a first-time head coach. ESPN’s Dave McMenamin recently reported that Dwane Casey, another longtime coach who is currently in a front office role with Detroit, withdrew from consideration for an assistant job with L.A., as he “did not want to uproot his family at this time.”

One of the NBA’s top perimeter defenders during his 12-year playing career with the Sonics, McMillan transitioned to coaching after he retired from playing, including multi-season head coaching stints with Seattle, Portland, Indiana and Atlanta. The 59-year-old holds a career regular season record of 760-668 (.532 win percentage) and 28-48 record in the postseason (.368%). McMillan took a year off to reportedly spend time with family after he was fired by the Hawks in 2023.

Brooks is another former NBA player turned coach, spending 10 years in the league as a backup point guard from 1988-98. He was the lead coach of the Thunder for seven seasons and the Wizards for five, compiling a 521-414 regular season record (.557%) and 49-48 mark (.505%) in the postseason. The 58-year-old has been an assistant with Portland the past three seasons.

Rajon Rondo, Sam Cassell, Jared Dudley and Jacque Vaughn are among the other names that have been floated as possible candidates for Redick’s staff, though Cassell (Boston) and Dudley (Dallas) may not be available.

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