Now that the Lakers have made the hiring of Darvin Ham as their next head coach official, a big name is reportedly set to follow him.
As Ham begins to assemble his coaching staff, reports from Jason Munz of the Memphis News and The Athletic's Shams Charania indicate that four-time NBA All-Star Rasheed Wallace will be the first assistant coaching hire.
Sources: Four-time NBA All-Star Rasheed Wallace has agreed on a deal to be an assistant coach for the Lakers under new head coach Darvin Ham. Both were teammates in Detroit and part of the 2004 title team. Memphis‘ Penny Hardaway hinted today Wallace may join Ham in LA.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 6, 2022
Ham and Wallace spent two seasons as teammates with the Pistons, winning an NBA title in 2004 and losing in the 2005 NBA Finals.
MORE: Why Lakers hired Darvin Ham as next head coach
During their time in Detroit, Ham and Wallace went head-to-head with the LeBron James-led Cavaliers five times, and a picture of Ham guarding a rookie LeBron has made its way back into the spotlight in recent days.
17 years later, Ham and Wallace rejoin forces in hopes of leading a LeBron-led Lakers team back to the same pinnacle they reached as teammates in Detroit.
As LeBron enters Year 20 in the NBA, it's not exactly mind-boggling to learn that he competed against some of his coaches, nor is it the first time that dynamic has existed. This past season, the Lakers had John Lucas III on their staff, and Lucas' tenure came after Jason Kidd spent a few seasons on the staff as an assistant coach.
That said, Wallace joining the Lakers staff feels different.
James and Kidd competed against one another in the 2011 NBA Finals and one of James' best career highlights came against Lucas, but James' first transcendent NBA performance came against Wallace's Pistons in the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals.
They would go on to meet twice more in the NBA Playoffs, with James' Cavaliers defeating the Pistons in 2009 and Wallace's Celtics getting the best of the Cavs in 2010. The two were also teammates with the Eastern Conference All-Stars in 2006 and 2008.
What did Rasheed Wallace say about LeBron James?
With James still playing at an All-NBA level and Wallace quickly rising up the coaching ranks, the two now working together is a reminder of the longstanding rivalry associated with their years as competitors in the league.
That rivalry was the topic of discussion last September when Wallace's comments about James during a 2020 appearance on the Million Dollaz Worth of Game podcast resurfaced, causing many to look at the head-to-head matchups between the two.
Like most discussions revolving around James, Wallace's comments derived from era talk.
“He probably would’ve done good with his physical stature, with him being bigger than the majority of the rest of the players. So he probably would’ve held his own," Wallace said of James.
"I don’t think he would be as successful as he is now," he continued. "It’s a whole different era back then. I couldn’t necessarily say that he would’ve been a beast but I think he would’ve held his own."
While some knew what Wallace was trying to get at, fans were quick to point out that James joined the NBA just eight years after Wallace was drafted, with the two facing one another a total of 53 times.
Wallace did briefly retire from 2010 to 2012, but he returned for a stint with the Knicks in 2012-13, meaning nearly 50 percent of the games played in his career were during James' era.
Now that the two will join forces in Los Angeles, the era discussion from 2020 will likely just be a footnote to a larger discussion that surrounds the Lakers' attempts to return to relevance after missing the 2022 NBA Playoffs.
James has already given his new head coach his stamp of approval, so it's probably only a matter of time before Wallace gets his due from the King.
