Los Angeles Lakers Blog – Page 118 – NBA Blog

Lakers hire John Kuester as assistant coach

The Los Angeles Lakers have hired John Kuester to serve as an assistant coach, it was announced today by Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak.

“I’m extremely excited to have John join the team as a member of my coaching staff,” said Lakers Head Coach Mike Brown. “Having previously worked together in Cleveland, I know what assets he will bring to the team. His ability to effectively communicate with the players while teaching them valuable skills on both ends of the court is a quality that I respect and value. I look forward to working with him again.”

Kuester joins the Lakers after a two-year stint as head coach for the Detroit Pistons. Prior to his time in Detroit, Kuester spent 14 years as an assistant coach in the NBA, working for six different franchises (Boston, Philadelphia, Detroit, New Jersey, Orlando and Cleveland).

“I’m extremely excited to be working with Mike Brown, as well as to have the opportunity to work with the Lakers, one of the premier organizations in the NBA,” said Kuester.

Kuester, who worked for the Celtics organization from 1990-1997, began his NBA coaching career in 1995 when was hired as an assistant coach for Boston. Kuester spent two seasons with the Celtics before joining the Philadelphia 76ers as an assistant coach at the start of the 1997-98 season. As a member of Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown’s staff, Kuester helped lead the team to the playoffs in five of his six seasons including an NBA Finals appearance in 2001.

In 2003, Kuester joined the Detroit Pistons where he helped guide the team to an NBA Championship in 2004. The North Carolina native had stints in New Jersey, Philadelphia and Orlando before joining the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2007. During his time in Cleveland, the Cavaliers posted a 111-53 (.677) record and made an Eastern Conference Finals appearance in 2009.

Prior to joining the NBA, Kuester coached for ten years at the collegiate level. After serving as an assistant coach for the University of Richmond during the 1980-81 season, Kuester joined Rick Pitino’s staff at Boston University where he spent two seasons as his assistant before being named head coach of the Terriers in 1983. After a two-year stint in Boston, Kuester served five seasons (1985-90) as head coach at George Washington University.

Mitch Kupchak says recent Lakers rumors were agent-driven

Mark Heisler of the Los Angeles Times reports:

In a rare show of exasperation after a week of seeing his players’ names in headlines, Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak zinged an unnamed agent, whose identity was obvious.

“A lot of the stuff you read the last three or four days was agent-driven,” said Kupchak.

“A lot of times agents these days think the way to consummate a trade is to suggest publicly ideas that they come up with and I think that’s part of the problem, as well.”

Kupchak also noted that a “prominent media member” started this, saying they should “blow up” the team.

That was none other than … Magic Johnson, former Lakers icon and part-owner.

Lakers trade Chukwudiebere Maduabum (yes, really) to Nuggets

The Los Angeles Lakers have sent the draft rights to second round selection (56th overall) Chukwudiebere Maduabum to the Denver Nuggets in exchange for a future second round draft pick, it was announced today.

Maduabum, a 6’9” forward from Nigeria, appeared in three games last season with the Bakersfield Jam of the NBA Development League.

Entering the 2011 NBA Draft, the Lakers held four picks in the second round, selecting Darius Morris (41st overall), Andrew Goudelock (46th overall), Maduabum (56th overall) and Ater Majok (58th overall).

Pacers expected to name Brian Shaw associate head coach

Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star reports:

The Indiana Pacers are expected to name Brian Shaw associate head coach once Frank Vogel’s interim coach title is removed from his name at some point after the draft, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.

Shaw interviewed with Vogel earlier this week.

Shaw was a head coaching candidate for jobs with the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors. He interviewed for the Pacers job in 2007.

Ron Artest is changing his name to Metta World Peace

TMZ reports:

Say goodbye to Ron Artest and HELLOOOO to Metta World Peace … Mr. Metta World Peace to you.

Yes, Ron is going the way of Cassius Clay, Lew Alcindor and Chad Johnson. Ron’s filed a petition in L.A. County Superior Court to change his name to — World Peace.

FYI, metta means loving, kindness, happiness and all that jazz.

InsideHoops.com editor says: This all sounds perfectly normal.

Mike Brown buying huge Anaheim Hills house

Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register reports:

New Lakers coach Mike Brown was definitely listening when Vanessa Bryant was breaking down the ins and outs of Orange County for him.

Brown and his star player Kobe Bryant will be fellow Orange County residents. Brown is buying a house in Anaheim Hills — and it’s a lot of house at 9,500 square feet — and will brave the commute from the intersection of the 91 and 55 freeways to El Segundo for practice and downtown Los Angeles for games.

According to Google Maps, that’ll be 45 minutes to practice without traffic (but an hour and 20 minutes with traffic) and 43 minutes to Staples without traffic (but an hour and 40 minutes with traffic.)

Lakers offer of Lamar Odom for No. 2 pick rejected by Timberwolves

Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times (blog) reports:

The Lakers tried to move up in Thursday’s NBA draft by offering forward Lamar Odom to Minnesota for the Timberwolves’ No. 2 overall pick, but Minnesota turned them down, according to two NBA officials who were not authorized to speak publicly about the trade talks.

The Lakers wanted to use the No. 2 pick to select Arizona’s forward Derrick Williams, the officials said.

However, Minnesota didn’t want Odom, the NBA’s sixth man of the year last season, because the Timberwolves have Kevin Love at power forward and see him as part of the franchise’s cornerstone.

Lakers forward Matt Barnes exercises option to extend contract

Lakers forward Matt Barnes exercised his option to extend his contract for the 2011-12 season, it was announced today by General Manager Mitch Kupchak.

Barnes, signed by the Lakers as a free agent on July 22, 2010, averaged 6.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 19.2 minutes over 53 games last season.

Originally selected by the Memphis Grizzlies in the second round (46th overall pick) of the 2002 NBA Draft, Barnes has averaged 7.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 497 career games.

Spero Dedes to become Knicks broadcaster

Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register reports:

Spero Dedes had hoped in April a deal would work out for him to move from radio to the Lakers’ TV job. But things changed during negotiations that included Dedes wanting to continue periodic work for CBS on the NFL and college basketball and other national jobs — and Dedes is instead headed to be a radio and TV play-by-play man for the New York Knicks, who will allow him to do some national work.

“We had a verbal agreement with Spero to be our new TV play-by-play announcer,” Lakers spokesman John Black said. “However, prior to getting a finalized contract, he had a change of heart and decided to pursue another job.”

Lakers name Bill Macdonald and John Ireland 2011-12 play-by-play announcers

The Los Angeles Lakers have hired longtime Southern California area broadcasters Bill Macdonald (television) and John Ireland (radio) as the team’s play-by-play announcers for the upcoming 2011-12 season.

A four-time local Emmy Award-winning announcer and host, Macdonald will call all televised Lakers games on FS West and KCAL 9 alongside former Laker and long-time color commentator Stu Lantz, who will be entering his 25th season broadcasting Lakers games.

A fixture on FS West/Prime Ticket since its inception in 1985, the versatile Macdonald has broadcast in a variety of capacities for the network over the years as host, field reporter and play-by-play announcer for professional basketball, baseball and hockey among other sports. The current host of FS West’s pre- and post-game shows “Lakers Live,” “Angels Live” and “Ducks Live,” Macdonald has also served as the play-by-play voice for UCLA men’s basketball and football and Los Angeles Avengers football. A graduate of the University of Southern California, Macdonald has filled in as the Angels, Ducks and Kings play-by-play announcer over the years as well as the Lakers play-by-play announcer on both television and radio, most notably calling Kobe Bryant’s historic 81-point game on January 22, 2006.

Ireland, the team’s sideline reporter on KCAL 9 since the 2002-03 season, will call each and every Lakers game on 710 AM ESPN Radio alongside former Laker and two-time NBA Champion Mychal Thompson, who will be entering his ninth season as the Lakers radio color commentator.

Another winner of four local Emmy Awards for best sports reporting, Ireland currently co-hosts the Mason and Ireland Show on 710 AM ESPN Radio while also serving as a regular sports anchor and reporter for the KCBS/KCAL sports team. A UCLA graduate, Ireland’s career path took him to stations in Monroe (LA), Beaumont (TX) and San Diego (CA) before ultimately finding a home at KCAL 9 in 1995. In 1997, Ireland added the Los Angeles Clippers radio play-by-play announcer responsibilities to his resume, working five seasons in all for the team on a fill-in basis before joining the Lakers beat as sideline reporter in 2002. A two-time recipient of the Southern California Sports Broadcasters (SCSB) Irv Kaze Radio Talk Show Host Award, Ireland has also previously filled in on radio play-by-play duties for both UCLA and Lakers basketball games.

Fernando Gonzalez, entering his 15th season as Lakers Spanish play-by-play announcer, and Jose “Pepe” Mantilla, who has served as color commentator for Lakers Spanish broadcasts since 1993, will once again broadcast every game on 1330 ESPN Deportes, the team’s Spanish language flagship.