Lakers make another big change after firing Darvin Ham

The Los Angeles Lakers are really cleaning house even beyond the firing of head coach Darvin Ham.

According to Dave McMenamin of ESPN, the Lakers fired their entire coaching staff on Friday in addition to Ham. That includes assistant coach Phil Handy, who had been a holdover from Frank Vogel’s staff.

In other words, the incoming Lakers coach will have a completely blank slate. That is not always the case, since Ham maintained a few Vogel assistants after taking over in 2022. It certainly signals that the Lakers are serious about making major changes following their early playoff elimination to the Denver Nuggets.

The move makes sense, given the Lakers appear to be looking for veteran players, including one previous NBA champion, to replace Ham.