NBA Rumors: Former Celtic To Join Rival Lakers’ Coaching Staff

Rasheed Wallace spent only a season with the Boston Celtics, and now, he’ll get a chance to represent their archrivals.

Wallace is headed to the West Coast, where the former four-time NBA All-Star reportedly will join the Los Angeles Lakers coaching staff as an assistant, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania. Charania also reported that Wallace and the Lakers haven’t reached the “formal contract stage” yet.

The Lakers recently hired Darvin Ham as their head coach, Wallace and Ham were teammates on the Detroit Pistons. The two helped Detroit win an NBA title in 2004.

Wallace nearly won his second NBA title with the Celtics in 2010, but they were unable to defeat the Lakers in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Wallace’s lone year in Boston was his last full season in the NBA, as he averaged nine points and 4.1 rebounds in 79 regular-season games.

Wallace has very limited coaching experience in the NBA. Wallace, who played 16 seasons in the NBA, coached on the Pistons’ staff for just the 2013-14 season, and last year was an assistant at the University of Memphis under Penny Hardaway.

But Wallace is now heading back to the NBA, and it shouldn’t come as a surprise if anyone hears him shouting, “Ball don’t lie,” from the Lakers’ bench.