The Los Angeles Lakers are adding veteran coaches to help out first-timer JJ Redick.
Per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, those coaches are Nate McMillan and Scott Brooks, each of whom brings a boatload of NBA experience, both as former players and head coaches.
McMillan last coached in the NBA in 2023, with the Atlanta Hawks. He was fired less than two years after leading the team to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Along with that, McMillan has served as coach of the Seattle SuperSonics, Portland Trail Blazers and Indiana Pacers and is considered a strong coach of defensive systems and schemes. He sports a 760-668 overall coaching record.
Brooks has been serving as an assistant coach under Chauncey Billups with the Trail Blazers. Brooks coached the Oklahoma City Thunder from 2008-15, including the days of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden and the trip to the 2012 NBA Finals.
He later coached the Wizards from 2016-21, again featuring Westbrook for a season, before joining Billups‘ staff with the Wizards.
Overall, Brooks has a 521-414 regular-season mark and a 49-48 playoff record in 12 years as an NBA head coach.
The biggest news for the Lakers came earlier in the day, when LeBron James agreed to a reported two-year, $104 million deal. But it’s not all gravy from here, as a team that barely made the playoffs in each of the past two seasons is now facing some salary cap issues.
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