No matter what the Phoenix Suns do in terms of their coaching staff, they have an open position for lead assistant after associate head coach Kevin Young agreed to become the next head coach at BYU earlier this month.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Now, one of Suns coach Frank Vogel’s former assistants, Phil Handy, is on the market after the Los Angeles Lakers reportedly decided to part ways with their entire coaching staff following the dismissal of head coach Darvin Ham this morning, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The Lakers have parted ways with the entire coaching staff beyond Darvin Ham, sources told ESPN, including Phil Handy – who coached under both Ham and Frank Vogel in L.A. The L.A. Times was first to report.
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) May 3, 2024
Handy has won three championships as an assistant coach and served as the Lakers’ lead player development coach this season. He began his coaching career building up his ranks in the AAU level before joining the Lakers staff in 2011, where he was until 2013. He then joined the Cleveland Cavaliers as an assistant coach from 2013-18, winning the 2016 championship with them. Handy next was hired as an assistant coach by the Toronto Raptors for the 2018-19 season, winning the 2019 Finals with the Raptors.
Vogel then hired Handy when he got the Lakers’ head coaching job in 2019, and Handy has remained on staff since. He played a key role in the Lakers’ 2020 NBA championship, the lone ring Vogel has in his career.
According to his NBA coaches bio, “Coach Handy was born in San Leandro, California and played for and graduated from University of Hawaii. He had a seven-year professional playing career, with stops in Israel, France, England, Germany, Italy, and Australia.”
Handy is well known on social media for basketball training and development.
The Suns have yet to make a decision on Vogel after owner Mat Ishbia said Wednesday in his exit interview that “not one discussion’s even been had, let alone a decision being made” in regards to Vogel and that he was having meetings with the team this week.
Ishbia made Young the NBA’s highest paid assistant coach last offseason. Ishbia, Vogel and the front office worked together to load their staff with experience and well-respected coaches when Vogel took the job last summer.
With a clear-cut connection to Vogel, could getting Handy on staff lead to Vogel being kept?
Woj: Potential preferred Suns coaching candidate will likely not be available
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Brendan Mau is a senior writer covering the Phoenix Suns and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @Brendan_Mau
