Report: Rasheed Wallace will no longer join Lakers coaching staff

Former NBA star Rasheed Wallace reportedly will no longer join the Los Angeles Lakers coaching staff for the 2022-23 season.

“After further conversations, former NBA All-Star Rasheed Wallace will no longer join new Lakers coach Darvin Ham’s staff, sources said,” The Athletic’s Shams Charania wrote. “Wallace served as an assistant under Penny Hardaway at the University of Memphis last season.”

It’s unclear what changed for Wallace, as the expectation earlier this summer was that he would join L.A.’s staff.

The Lakers hired Ham as their head coach a couple of months ago after he spent time with the Milwaukee Bucks as an assistant coach.

Ham broke into coaching in the NBA in 2011 as an assistant coach for the Lakers. He later served on the coaching staff of the Atlanta Hawks. He also played in the NBA for eight seasons on several different teams from the 1996-97 season through the 2004-05 season.

Wallace, a four-time All-Star during this playing career, last played in the NBA in the 2012-13 season for the New York Knicks.

He would have been a perfect coach to work with Lakers star Anthony Davis, as Wallace played a very similar game to that of the current Lakers big man.

For his career, Wallace averaged 14.4 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.3 blocks and 1.8 assists per game while shooting 46.7 percent from the field and 33.6 percent from beyond the arc. He was known for his physical play style and extreme passion.

Even with Wallace no longer joining L.A.’s staff, the Lakers are hoping that Ham will be able to lead the team to a playoff appearance after it missed the postseason in the 2021-22 campaign.