Lakers Formally Introduce Assistant Coaches

The Lakers have formally introduced the assistant coaches who will be on Luke Walton’s staff. From the team’s press release:

The Los Angeles Lakers today announced the hiring of Associate Head Coach Brian Shaw and Assistant Coach Jesse Mermuys to Head Coach Luke Walton’s coaching staff. In addition, Mark Madsen has been retained as an Assistant Coach.

We have already covered hires in detail when they were first reported as on the horizon, but to summarize…

Mermuys has a long history in development of players, most recently working as the assistant GM and head coach of the Raptors’ D-League team the Toronto 905. He also has a history with Walton, being an Arizona product and running youth basketball camps for both Luke and former Wildcat (and current Cav) Richard Jefferson.

As for Shaw, Lakers’ fans are very familiar with him and he brings an extensive history as both a player, assistant, and head coach in the NBA. He was most recently head coach of the Nuggets, but was a key assistant with Frank Vogel while both were in Indiana with the Pacers as well as an assistant under Phil Jackson on the title teams in 2009 and 2010.

I was unclear whether Madsen would stick on Luke’s staff after originally serving under Byron Scott for the past two seasons, but it is now confirmed he will. Madsen has worked with the Lakers’ big men in the past and, I would imagine, would continue in that role (though Luke also did work in that area when working with the Warriors) as well as his other assistant duties (team scouting, game plan contribution, etc).

All in all, this is a nice staff. We will see if any other additions are made, but for now this is the group. I’m excited to see what each contribute to the staff and how, along with Walton, they work to revamp the team’s culture and help turn the direction of the team around.