The Los Angeles Lakers did a great job filling out the rest of their roster beyond LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Since then, they have turned their attention to filling out head coach Frank Vogel’s coaching staff, which initially started with former Milwaukee Bucks head coach Jason Kidd as lead assistant.
Since those two, the Lakers have added former Memphis Grizzlies head coach Lionel Hollins, who had a five-year stint with them that included three playoff berths and one Western Conference Finals appearance. They also added Toronto Raptors assistant coach Phil Handy who has already been a part of two championship teams while retaining player development coach Miles Simon.
The Lakers have now added former Charlotte Hornets video coordinator and player development coach Quinton Crawford, according to Brad Turner of Los Angeles Times:
Lakers to hire Quinton Crawford as assistant coach on Frank Vogel's staff, per source. Crawford worked as a head video coordinator/player development with Vogel in Orlando. Crawford spent last season in same role with Charlotte. He began career as assistant VC in Sacramento.
— Brad Turner (@BA_Turner) July 19, 2019
Crawford began his career as an assistant video coordinator for the Sacramento Kings before being hired as the head video coordinator and player development coach for the Orlando Magic. With the Magic, he served as one of the top assistants on Vogel’s staff, which is likely one of the reasons for his hiring.
Obviously, the players on the court are more important than the coaching staff, but who is on the bench from a coaching perspective can make or break the team. It became obvious several times during the 2018-19 NBA season when former head coach Luke Walton’s rotations would blow leads or create insurmountable deficits.
With the exception of Kidd — who was added likely due to his relationship with LeBron James and the Lakers front office’s odd affinity for him — everyone on the Lakers coaching staff has had success in a former position.
This staff should instill far more confidence in fans and players than last year’s and for the first time in a while, it feels like the Lakers improved in every facet of the game from one season to the next. The test will now be how well that translates to the court for the 2019-20 season.