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Report: Lakers to Hire Miles Simon to Coaching Staff

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Since Theo Robertson left his post as player development coach to serve as an assistant coach at his alma mater UC Berkeley, Luke Walton and the Lakers have had a spot to fill on the coaching staff. It seems they have made their choice, looking at (another) former Arizona Wildcat to step in:

College hoops fans of a certain age should remember Simon well. He starred for the Wildcats as a dynamic scoring guard and won a national title in 1997 playing with Mike Bibby, Michael Dickerson, and Jason Terry. After his time at Arizona, he was a 2nd round draft pick in the NBA, but ultimately could not stick there and then finished out his pro career for a few seasons bouncing around Europe before succumbing to knee injuries that, essentially, ended his professional hopes.

In the mid-2000’s Simon returned to Arizona and served as an assistant on Lute Olson’s staff, before moving to ESPN full time as a college basketball broadcaster/analyst in 2008. He’s been with the world-wide leader since then.

If you’re looking for more substantial coaching experience, Simon does have some background working with highschool and college players, both as a coach and in skills development. From a 2013 feature in the OC Register:

Now, he coaches Amateur Athletic Union. basketball and is in his sixth season as an ESPN college basketball analyst. He is also a personal skills trainer for high school, college and professional players.

In short, he’s as involved with the game today as he has been his entire life.

“I still have a competitive desire to win and be in the locker room, so coaching the AAU team and training helps me do that. I get great fulfillment out of helping these young men get better as players. I’ve been involved in basketball since the first grade. I don’t see my involvement ever waning. There is always something new to learn.”

Despite the short tenure of his coaching career, Simon has overseen the AAU careers of several current college players. His latest top recruit is Kentucky freshman Marcus Lee.

Regarding his coaching style, Simon says his history as a player helps him:

“Thinking about my career, it helps me a lot,” he says. “It helps to rely on personal experiences. When I’m coaching, I think back to when I was a player and how I liked to be coached. It helps me know if I’m being too hard on a young man or too easy. Coaching is a lot different because I can’t make a pass or score a basket or defend anybody. But I still get great fulfillment as these young men get better as players.”

Simon’s history as a player and background working with individual talents who are trying to grow their game does fit into the mold of what he’ll be doing for the Lakers — though, not at the same level (NBA vs. AAU/College). The hope, though, is that his teaching skills translate and his familiarity within the group he’ll be joining (Luke’s staff is, like, half Wildcats now) will aid even further in this transition.

The flip side to this is, of course, that the Lakers have hired another person with not much experience in the role in which they’ll be asked to perform. This isn’t to say these folks can’t/won’t be successful, but it is interesting to me nonetheless that this keeps occurring.

Ultimately, though, Simon’s success will be dependent on his knowledge of the game, his ability to translate that into teaching skills, and how well he can fit into Walton’s staff (both as a reinforcement to what he wants taught and as a sounding board of alternative ideas to progress things forward). We’ll see how those things go over time.


Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. CraigW. says

    Lack of experience with the NBA game may be a drawback for a head coach, but some of the development people shouldn’t be judged as lacking. The way I look at this is…a person with a fair amount of experience also has habits drawn from that experience. With a new person, habits can be formed in the way the head coach sees things. Having a Brian Shaw is necessary, but Luke, Magic, and Rob are trying to completely revamp the organization. Trying new things may result in some mistakes, but it is also likely to find new ways to do things – making the Lakers leaders in these areas, not followers. This is good when trying to interest free agents in the future.

  2. FredP says

    Hey Darius, maybe a discussion of the offense and defense that Lute ran at Arizona are in order. I would like some reassurance that someone on the Lakers staff can do a better job with the defense next season. In addition, who has experience running the motion offense we keep hearing about? If the Lakers draft Ball, the design of the offense will be much different from what we saw last season to take advantage of the skills he will bring.

  3. Clay Bertrand says

    OT but let us take a moment to marvel at the feat accomplished by Lebron James last night. Lebron has led his team back to the NBA Finals WITHOUT Timofey Mozgov!!!!!!! Its basically a basketball miracle people!!!!!!!!!

    The Warriors are CLEARLY the odds on Favorite to win it all…….ESPECIALLY since the Cavs are now MOZZYLESS. The Cavs will RUE THE DAY they let Mozzy walk out that door………….I mean, who else is gonna pick up 5 fouls in 17 minutes guarding ZaZa????

    The proverbial writing is on the wall here for the Cavs: NO Mozzy, No Rings.
    (I’m pretty sure Pat Riley coined this saying……..)

    • Rick in Seattle says

      Wow, you have certainly changed my opinion of Mozgov! All this time I thought he was just a $16/yr waste of money. Never did I realize how valuable he is (and will be for us in the future)! He should clearly be our starting center and vocal leader for the next three years! Forget trying to land PG or DMC–we don’t need them!
      .

  4. 81Witness says

    Cool that it’s a former Mater Dei alum, but not terribly thrilled with this hire. Please hire a defensive specialist.

    • Pbz06 says

      Yea, but just sounds like he has his mind made up and is making his case which is fine. You can’t get caught into too many stat heavy comparisons in college game. Personally, Lonzo didn’t need a midrange game. And just because UCLA played team ball and high octane offense, and Lonzo had most of his points assisted on, why is that a negative? I dunno, he passes the eye test and what he does extremely well is elite and can’t be taught. He’s not a finished product so I judge him what he can become.

      People say Fox is better defender but he’s 6’4″ and 170. He ain’t stopping NBA players. He makes Lillard look like Artest. Contextually, Fox had more of a chip and more to prove. Lonzo was destined for NBA via one and done ever since he was 12 years old. He’s not going to spill his guts in 30 games with guys he won’t see again 😀

  7. bluehill says

    Anybody heard of this guy? Says he’s a sports handicapper. In any case, he really loves Ball and makes an interesting case for him. Also liked DLo and Ingram in their draft years, but had Porzingis ranked much lower than where he went.

    https://deanondraft.com/2017/01/15/lonzo-ball-is-a-basketball-genius/

    “It is common to evaluate prospects based on which boxes they check off, and Lonzo is considered a big risk through this lens. Neither his handle nor first step is elite, and he rarely creates his own shot at the rim. And while he is shooting 43% from 3, his 68% FT’s and low release on his jumper raise concerns for his ability to consistently make NBA 3’s. And because he is a non-elite athlete who struggles to defend at the point of attack, we are left with a point guard who cannot get to the rim, can only maybe shoot, and cannot defend. When you view it that way, Lonzo sounds far from awesome.

    But the counterpoint is that Lonzo has strengths in his game as well, and they are spectacular. It starts with his supreme basketball IQ, which has potential to be the best basketball IQ in NBA history. He constantly pushes pace and dishes picture perfect passes to set up his teammates with high quality shots in their hot spots. This is his one big strength which has captivated the draft world.

    Aside from smarts, Ball has elite size for a PG at 6’6?, and even though he is not an explosive freak, he moves well and is a pretty good athlete. Height is an extremely important tool for a PG, as it gives him the ability to see and pass over defenses as well as switch onto wings defensively. Overall his physical tools are a significant positive, as they enable him to rack up good rebounds, steal, and block totals for a PG.”

    • KevTheBold says

      Fantastic article Bluehill ! Thanks for posting it.

      I am in for Ball all the way, and from what hear, the front office is as well.
      I do worry that bean town might snag him, but the consolation prize of Fultz, is like hitting the lottery as well, and having a faster reboot.

      I just see Ball as having the chance over his career to bypass Fultz by becoming, like the buzz is: The highest basketball IQ in nba history!

  8. Robert says

    Playoffs: Well the Celtics and Spurs are out which is a very good thing. I hate the Spurs.

    Finals: I think GS will win but would prefer LBJ. I already have LBJ ahead of Kobe on the GOAT list – MJ, KAJ, LBJ, KBB, Magic.

    Kev: From prior thread – we need to look at things how we see them, not just how we want to see them. So people draw different conclusions, just like they do in politics. People who criticize the Lakers are not worse fans and people who criticize the government aren’t worse citizens. And by the way – during the Kobe/Shaq era and during the Showtime era I was one of the most overconfident, trash talking Laker fans on the planet. I may get back there now that the root of the problem I have railed against for 4 years has been eliminated.

    • KevTheBold says

      Robert, I see your logic. Can you see mine?

      As we have no control over what the lakers do, and what is done to them, and are only guessing, it’s easy to look behind us and imagine we knew what would occur.

      This true especially in sports, as most teams lose, most of the time.

      Lastly, of course not. Whether you chose to be doubtful, or hopeful, at least in here, thanks to Darius, you are still a true, purple and blue, Laker fan.