Lakers add Rasheed Wallace to join 2022 Coaching Staff: First reported assistant hire

According to reports, former NBA All-Star, Rasheed Wallace has been hired to an assistant coach role for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Wallace joins former teammate and newly-appointed Lakers head coach, Darwin Ham. The two played together for the Detroit Pistons 2004 championship team.

The former 4th overall pick out of North Carolina, Wallace’s playing career spanned three decades for the Bullets (now Wizards), Trail Blazers, Hawks, Pistons, Celtics and Knicks.

Wallace has been a coach since his final year in New York.

Before the hire, Wallace was an assistant coach under Penny Hardaway at Memphis. Wallace has been coaching since his final NBA season in 2013. Hardaway had reportedly teased the idea that Wallace would be going to LA to join his teammate.

Lakers add Wallace to coaching staff — FILE – Milwaukee Bucks acting coach Darvin Ham watches during the first half of the team’s NBA basketball game against the Charlotte Hornets on Jan. 8, 2022, in Charlotte, N.C. A person with knowledge of the decision says Ham has accepted an offer to be the next head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. The person spoke with The Associated Press on Friday, May 27, on condition of anonymity because the deal has not been publicly announced. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley, File)

Lakers Off-season Outlook

Wallace joins a Lakers team in disarray. Los Angeles went 33-49 and missed the postseason for the first time since 2018. Questions surrounding point guard, Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis have clouded the team’s future.

While reports of potentially moving Westbrook have stalled, the future of the Lakers will be predicated on how well Ham and his new coaching staff will mesh with an aging roster.

For Wallace, it gives him the opportunity to pass off his historic playing grit and expertise to a team that struggled to find an identity last season.