Lakers Rumors: DeMarre Carroll Joins Darvin Ham's Coaching Staff as Assistant

One of the assistants coaching LeBron James next season will be younger than him.

According to Dave McMenamin of ESPN, the Los Angeles Lakers hired former NBA player DeMarre Carroll, 36, as an assistant coach. Lakers head coach Darvin Ham was an assistant coach on the 2013-14 Atlanta Hawks team that Carroll played for during his career, so there is a clear connection in place.

This will not be his first coaching job.

Carroll was an assistant coach for the Milwaukee Bucks last season when Mike Budenholzer was the head coach. Budenholzer was also the head coach of that 2013-14 Hawks team.

James and many other Lakers are certainly familiar with their new assistant coach from his playing days. Carroll entered the NBA as a first-round draft pick in 2009 and played 11 seasons for the Memphis Grizzlies, Houston Rockets, Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz, Hawks, Toronto Raptors, Brooklyn Nets and San Antonio Spurs.

His final season in the league came in 2019-20 when he suited up for the Spurs and Rockets.

Los Angeles needed to make some moves when it came to its coaching staff.

As McMenamin noted, Miles Simon, Jon Pastorek and Dru Anthrop all departed the Purple and Gold to join the Phoenix Suns' staff after they hired former Lakers head coach Frank Vogel. Vogel coached Los Angeles for three seasons, including the championship campaign in 2019-20.

Carroll never won a championship during his playing career, but he will have an opportunity to do so with the Lakers.

After all, they are coming off a Western Conference Finals appearance, maintained the core of their roster this offseason, and will still have James and Anthony Davis leading the way on the court.

And now they will have a new assistant helping lead the way from the sidelines.