Joe Mazzulla Addresses Celtics Assistant Potentially Joining Lakers
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BOSTON — Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla spent last offseason hand-picking a staff to join the sideline crew before the top-to-bottom new-look team began embarking on its NBA-best (64-win) 2023-24 season.
It included hiring Amilie Jefferson, Charles Lee, and Sam Cassell, but that group has, once again, begun to shrink midway through Boston’s playoff hunt. Lee recently landed a head-coaching gig with the Charlotte Hornets. Meanwhile, Cassell, a 14-year veteran assistant coach, is expected to interview with the Los Angeles Lakers, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, following their parting of ways with Darvin Ham.
“He’s been on every seat on the bench in the NBA, and he knows how to communicate with every single player,” Mazzulla said before Wednesday night’s Game 5 against the Cleveland Cavaliers at TD Garden. “Because he’s been there where that particular player has been. The first (thing) he does before we play is watches film. Even though he’s a former player, he’s a guy that wants to study the game, learn the game. Loyal, communicates well, good coach — great coach.”
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Los Angeles flirted with contention throughout the regular season, earning a No. 7 seed (47-35) in the Western Conference. But once the postseason arrived, the Lakers fell flat on their faces, failing to maintain double-digit leads within all four losses of their first-round defeats to the Denver Nuggets.
The once-dynamic, but currently aging duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis isn’t enough for Los Angeles to make up for its lackluster depth. In 2020, James led the Lakers to their first NBA title in a decade, defeating the Miami Heat during the COVID-19-shortened season.
Since then, the Lakers have suffered two first-round eliminations and a conference finals loss — to the Nuggets in 2023 — signaling the need for new leadership on the West Coast.
Fellow assistant coaches James Borrego (New Orleans Pelicans), David Adelman (Nuggets), Chris Quinn (Heat), and Micah Nori (Minnesota Timberwolves) are among others to be interviewed by the Lakers.
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