Former Memphis assistant and NBA star Rasheed Wallace has agreed to join the Lakers as an assistant coach, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania. Wallace will join new coach Darvin Ham, who he won an NBA title with in Detroit in 2004.
Despite the agreement, the two sides have not reached the formal contract stage just yet, per Charania.
Wallace was drafted by the Washington Bullets in 1995. He retired for the second-and-final time in 2013 after stops with the Trail Blazers, Hawks, Pistons, Celtics and Knicks. After his playing career, he was an assistant for the Pistons before joining Memphis in 2021. After a quick stint in college, Wallace is back in the NBA.
Los Angeles’s newest assistant was a four-time All-Star as a player. Wallace will now be tasked with helping Ham return the Lakers to the postseason. The Lakers finished 33–49 last season with LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook on the roster, and they are in desperate need of a fresh start.
