Los Angeles Lakers

Lakers' assistant coach Phil Handy will remain with the team as part of new coach Darvin Ham's coaching staff.
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Phil Handy, one of the top assistants in the league, has accepted the invitation of new Los Angeles Lakers coach Darvin Ham to be a part of his coaching staff, league sources tell <a href="https://twitter.com/YahooSports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@YahooSports</a>.
&mdash; Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisBHaynes/status/1534232309762752519?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 7, 2022</a></blockquote>

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<a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/34053108/assistant-coaches-david-fizdale-mike-penberty-john-lucas-iii-let-go-los-angeles-lakers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ESPN is reporting</a> that Quinton Crawford will also remain as an assistant coach with the Lakers.

Lakers' assistant coach Phil Handy will remain with the team as part of new coach Darvin Ham's coaching staff.

Phil Handy to remain on Lakers staff

New Lakers coach Darvin Ham has informed assistants David Fizdale, Mike Penberthy and John Lucas III they will not be retained, according to ESPN.
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Reporting with <a href="https://twitter.com/wojespn?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@wojespn</a>: New Lakers coach Darvin Ham has started to shape his coaching staff by informing assistants David Fizdale, Mike Penberthy and John Lucas III they will not be retained.
&mdash; Dave McMenamin (@mcten) <a href="https://twitter.com/mcten/status/1534214315242246144?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 7, 2022</a></blockquote>

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<a href="https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1534215021139480578" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski adds</a> that "Ham has been discussing assistant coaching roles with several possible candidates around the league" and that it is "a process that&rsquo;s expected to be ongoing for weeks".

Lakers coach Darvin Ham has informed assistants David Fizdale, Mike Penberthy and John Lucas III they will not be retained

Lakers release assistant coaches

Jeff Pearlman is the New York Times best-selling author of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B081TTYZ6B/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&ldquo;Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty,"</a> which is on sale now.
When the Los Angeles Lakers selected A.C. Green out of Oregon State with the No. 23 pick of the 1985 NBA Draft, he was greeted by new teammates with the cackles and guffaws of men excited to welcome into their midst a real-life, all-American virgin.
Or, put differently, they decided to give him hell.
Within Green&rsquo;s first month with the team, the question, &ldquo;Are you really a virgin?&rdquo; was asked about 500 different times, 500 different ways. One Laker literally took bets on how long it would take for Green&rsquo;s deflowering, and a hat was passed around the bus. Nary an opportunity would pass when a player wouldn&rsquo;t try to temp ol&rsquo; A.C. with a chance to get laid.
It was funny.
It was engaging.
It was also cruel.
Fifteen years later, the Lakers once again used a late first-round pick on a devoutly religious West Coast power forward. This time it was Mark Madsen of Stanford, who came to La-La Land a couple of years removed from a Mormon mission to Spain. He was aw-shucks and golly-gee and ripe for the A.C. Green treatment.
Then, he was greeted by a man who has to be the best superstar teammate in the history of professional sports. 
First, Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal escorted the rookie on a spree.
&ldquo;He took me car shopping,&rdquo; Madsen recalled. &ldquo;He literally said to me, &lsquo;I&rsquo;m putting the down payment on whatever car you want.&rsquo; I told him I wouldn&rsquo;t let him, but he negotiated a great deal for me on a Chevy Tahoe.&rdquo; The next stop was clothing shopping at a big-and-tall store in Beverly Hills, where O&rsquo;Neal unloaded $2,500 on jeans and Italian sweaters.
Shaq began sitting next to Madsen on flights. He asked about Mormonism, about missions, about Madsen&rsquo;s goals and dreams and hopes.
Then, he got to work as Madsen&rsquo;s pimp.
His Mormon pimp.
When the Lakers flew from city to city, Shaq made certain to ask most of the flight attendants, &ldquo;Are you Mormon?&rdquo; Once, while walking through the team&rsquo;s offices, Madsen was approached by an employee who was young and single.
&ldquo;The most interesting thing happened last night,&rdquo; she told him. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sitting in a restaurant in Redondo Beach and Shaq was in there asking some of the girls if they were Mormon because if they were, he wanted to set them up with you.&rdquo;
O&rsquo;Neal, according to a former Laker guard named Mike Penberthy, was the equivalent of having &ldquo;a big brother with a huge bank account.&rdquo; When Penberthy arrived for his 2001 Laker debut wearing a suit jacket from Banana Republic, O&rsquo;Neal pulled him aside. &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t have any suits, do you?&rdquo; he said quietly, so as not to embarrass the rookie.
&ldquo;No,&rdquo; Penberthy said.
The following morning, the center from LSU picked up the guard from Master&rsquo;s College and brought him to his personal tailor. He paid for six suits.
&ldquo;When my father died, Shaq offered to pay for the funeral,&rdquo; Penberthy said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s that type of guy.&rdquo;
Indeed.
In the course of his 19-year NBA career, O&rsquo;Neal could be egomaniacal, ornery, moody, cruel. He would do things, on occasion, that caused other players to cringe, shrug and moan. Once, in a fit of agitation, he placed a wad of used toilet paper in someone&rsquo;s shoe. Another time, engaged after a dispute, he dragged Brian Shaw across the locker room floor. Devean George, Laker forward and chronic softie, still likely has some scars from being duct taped naked to a court.
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But mostly, he was a man who aspired to be loved and admired, who felt the pain of others&rsquo; unhappiness and wanted to make certain your day was as good as his. When people speak of the famously combative relationship between O&rsquo;Neal and Kobe Bryant, often misunderstood is the root. It wasn&rsquo;t so much that Bryant was arrogant and self-centered. No, it was that he showed no interest in O&rsquo;Neal&rsquo;s embrace.
Shaq wanted to be Bryant&rsquo;s big brother. Bryant had two sisters, and that was enough. Shaq wanted to be Batman to Bryant&rsquo;s Robin. Bryant didn&rsquo;t care for comic books &mdash; and if anyone was going to be Batman, it was him. As simplistic as it sounds, this bruised O&rsquo;Neal&rsquo;s feelings. He was sensitive to a fault; oddly passive aggressive and gentle. When, on one occasion, he took many of the Lakers out for a fancy seafood dinner, and Bryant passed, the sting itched. When Bryant later arrived at the restaurant, book tucked beneath arm, and found his own table, it burned. No, it hurt.
Before long, O&rsquo;Neal silently anointed himself the protector of younger players &mdash; a guardian against Bryant&rsquo;s notoriously poor mistreatment of lightly regarded free agents and rookies.
Heading into 2003 training camp, the Lakers signed former Kansas center Eric Chenowith to fight for the job as O&rsquo;Neal&rsquo;s backup. He was a journeyman in the classic sense &mdash; a one-time New York Knicks second-round pick who bounced from team to team. Never sticking.
Not long after inking his contract, Chenowith received an engraved-in-marble invitation, via mail, that read: ERIC CHENOWITH&mdash;SHAQUILLE O&rsquo;NEAL CORDIALLY INVITES YOU TO HIS HOME TO WELCOME NEW TEAMMATES. Upon arriving, he was embraced by O&rsquo;Neal, who guided him to the rear of his home and toward a group of Cubans rolling cigars. &ldquo;Bro,&rdquo; O&rsquo;Neal said, &ldquo;Make sure and take some home for a friend.&rdquo;
Chenowith was blown away. A few weeks later, while in camp, Bryant ordered him to fetch an ice cream. It was awkward and uncomfortable, and Chenowith felt inches tall.
Then, a whisper from behind.
&ldquo;Listen,&rdquo; said O&rsquo;Neal. &ldquo;Fuck that dude. I&rsquo;ve got your back.&rdquo;
Of course he did.
Order <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B081TTYZ6B/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&ldquo;Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty."</a>

Shaquille O'Neal has to be the best superstar teammate in the history of professional sports, writes best-selling author Jeff Pearlman.

'He offered to pay for my dad's funeral': Why Shaq is best star teammate ever

Over the last month, many people have asked me, &ldquo;What&rsquo;s it like in the NBA bubble?&rdquo; The best way to describe this experience is that it feels like I&rsquo;m on a grown-up AAU team. Our Lakers team has been really close all season, but we&rsquo;ve reached a different level of chemistry recently.&nbsp;
For the most part, we are together all day, every day. We go to practice together. Then, we all go eat lunch together as a team. After that, we hang out at the hotel. Then, we go to dinner together. We&rsquo;ve been having Madden tournaments, watching other NBA games and checking out the Verzuz battles to pass the time. Sometimes, we&rsquo;ll all just sit around and share stories. I love hearing stories from my vets. Guys don&rsquo;t usually stop to appreciate their journey and what they&rsquo;ve accomplished in this league, but we&rsquo;ve got nothing but time in here. We&rsquo;ve also been discussing how we can help our communities and doing a lot of brainstorming.
Every NBA organization talks about developing chemistry and building a strong culture, but that&rsquo;s easier said than done. But with this Lakers team, it&rsquo;s a real brotherhood. There&rsquo;s a genuine family feel. This group has been through so much throughout this season, and there&rsquo;s no question that it has brought us even closer together. Usually, a team builds chemistry through big wins, tough losses, road trips and things like that. We&rsquo;ve experienced all of those things, but we&rsquo;ve also dealt with a pandemic, the tragic death of Kobe Bryant and, now, the strangest postseason in NBA history.
Strong leadership is always important, but it&rsquo;s even more crucial during a season like this. Our leaders, LeBron James and Anthony Davis, set the tone from day one. In September, Bron and AD organized a minicamp in Las Vegas where we all got together for the first time to work out and get to know each other. Not only are Bron and AD two of the best players in the world, they are also so unselfish and they always put the team first. They want to build everyone up and help their teammates. That&rsquo;s rare.&nbsp;
When you spend time around Bron, it&rsquo;s obvious why he&rsquo;s a legend. It&rsquo;s not a coincidence! He and AD are always the first ones in the gym. Bron shows up 2.5 hours before practice to work on his body and get shots up, and he gets to the arena 3-4 hours before each game. Both guys work so hard and they&rsquo;ve completely dedicated themselves to the game. 
When I was with the Warriors, I played against Bron during the 2018 NBA Finals and he was calling out many of our sets before they even happened. He&rsquo;s able to do that because he watches a ton of film and his attention to detail is incredible.
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When your best players are showing up early, watching film non-stop and constantly going above and beyond, everyone else is going to follow suit. Bron and AD are willing to do whatever it takes to win and that attitude is contagious.
We have other great leaders too. During every film session, I sit next to Rajon Rondo just to pick his brain. His attention to detail is incredible as well. Jared Dudley doesn&rsquo;t get enough credit for being an amazing teammate and leader. Danny Green is a great glue guy. Honestly, everyone sacrifices for the greater good of the team. It really feels like an AAU team with how close we are as a team and how together we are. It&rsquo;s a very unique group of guys.
One special thing about this team is that we have a lot of championship experience. We have six players who have won a championship (including three who have multiple rings). Four of our coaches have won a title either as a player or as a coach: Jason Kidd, Lionel Hollins, Phil Handy and Mike Penberthy. Having that championship experience can only help us in the playoffs. Because we have so many past champions on the roster, everyone understands exactly what it&rsquo;s going to take to win it all this year.
We&rsquo;re banking on our pedigree and our chemistry this year. This team has a lot of guys who have done great things in this league. I think we&rsquo;re as talented as any team in the NBA, but we just have to keep building great habits and doing the little things.&nbsp;
It&rsquo;s frustrating that we don&rsquo;t have home-court advantage in these playoffs. We all wish we were playing in STAPLES Center because Laker Nation gives us a huge advantage. But this is a weird year, so we&rsquo;re making the best of our situation in the bubble. I know Laker Nation will be rooting for us every step of the way from home. 
I&rsquo;ve been a Lakers fan for my entire life, so I know firsthand how passionate and supportive Laker Nation is. It&rsquo;s been a dream come true for me to play in front of these fans. They just did <a href="https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1295524878456512513">a mural of the whole team</a> in L.A. and it&rsquo;s amazing. Laker Nation is the best; there&rsquo;s nothing else to say.
We want to bring the Larry O&rsquo;Brien trophy back to Los Angeles for Laker Nation.&nbsp;

From the NBA bubble, Quinn Cook writes about the Los Angeles Lakers' chemistry, leadership and championship aspirations.