The Los Angeles Lakers have officially named Jason Kidd, Lionel Hollins, Phil Handy, Miles Simon, Mike Penberthy, and Quinton Crawford as Assistant coaches on Head Coach Frank Vogel’s staff, it was announced today.

The mixture of former head coaches and familiar faces could either develop into a massive fiasco or a truly elite, top-of-the-line staff.

“I could not be more excited about the group we’ve assembled,” said Vogel. “Each of these guys brings a unique set of skills and experiences that will greatly impact the success of our players, as we look to build a championship-caliber team.”

Vogel is a respected coach who helped develop the Indiana Pacers into a contender several years ago. However, he was not given the autonomy to select his entire staff, a concern for any coach which became even more problematic when experienced former NBA head coaches Lionel Hollins and Jason Kidd were added.

The fact that star LeBron James preferred his former coach Tyronn Lue over Vogel, does not help either.

With the presence of Hollins and Kidd, and the franchise's "win-now" mentality, Vogel could be one of history's few lame duck coaches with a multi-year deal, as it is foreseeable that he might be quickly replaced by Hollins or Kidd should the team falter early.

Kidd most recently served as head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks from 2014-18, amassing a 139-152 record. Prior to his time in Milwaukee, Kidd spent the 2013-14 season as head coach of the Brooklyn Nets, leading the team to a 44-38 record while earning two Eastern Conference Coach of the Month awards.

Hollins owns a career record of 262-272 as head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies and Brooklyn Nets, and returns to an NBA bench for the first time since 2015-16. A four-time Western Conference Coach of the Month and the winningest coach in Grizzlies’ franchise history (214-201), Hollins coached Memphis to a franchise-best 56-26 record and advanced to the Western Conference Finals in 2012-13. He has also served as an assistant for Memphis, the Vancouver Grizzlies and the Phoenix Suns.

Handy has worked with LeBron in the past and joins the Lakers staff after serving as an assistant coach for the Toronto Raptors last season, following five seasons in the same role with the Cleveland Cavaliers (2013-18). Overall, he has coached in each of the last five NBA Finals, winning titles with the Raptors and Cavaliers in 2019 and 2016, respectively. Handy returns to the Lakers after spending 2011-13 as an assistant coach.

Simon returns for his third season with the Lakers after playing a key role in the team’s on-court development and game preparation. Simon has coached each of the Lakers last two entries in the Las Vegas Summer League, advancing to the 2018 championship game. He’s previously worked with Team USA and has been the director of the Nike Basketball Academy since 2015, while also working with ESPN as a college basketball analyst.

Penberthy was a member of the New Orleans Pelicans staff during each of the last two seasons. He previously worked as a private trainer for some of the league’s top talent and was an assistant coach with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2014-15. Penberthy played two seasons for the Lakers from 2000-02 and was a member of the 2001 championship team.  An outstanding outside shooter during his playing days, he is expected, at a minimum, to work with the players on developing their stroke.

Crawford served as head video coordinator/player development coach for the Hornets last season and was in the same role for the Orlando Magic during the 2017-18 campaign, after spending the 2016-17 season with Orlando as assistant video coordinator. He is a graduate of the University of Arizona, with a master’s degree in education from Pepperdine University.

Also named to Vogel’s staff are Greg St. Jean as player development coach/advance scout, Dru Anthrop as head video coordinator/player development coach and Jon Pastorek, as assistant video coordinator/player development coach.

By Staff of TheDailySportsHerald.com