Sam Cassell likely to remain with Celtics?
The departures set up Joe Mazzulla to make some internal promotions for his own coaching staff for the upcoming season. The team is already adding one of Mazzulla’s former college players God Shammgod Jr. as a player development coach. Sam Cassell was a candidate for open head coaching jobs around the league and was heavily targeted as an assistant per sources. However, it appears he will be back alongside Mazzulla for next season.
Source: Booth Newspapers
Source: Booth Newspapers
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Shaquille O’Neal on JJ Redick’s hiring: “It makes it look crazy that a guy with no experience can overshadow a guy like Sam Cassell who’s been in the league 15 years, this and that. So just let me say that, no disrespect to JJ, but I think Sam should also be able to get the same looks. But I’m happy for JJ. Lot of pressure. Winning games will not be good enough. Expectation when you take that job, when you take the Miami Heat job, when you take a job where there’s a lot of talent, the expectation is to win championships.” -via YouTube / July 3, 2024
The Lakers underwent some turbulence in their coaching search. Much of the process consisted of Pelinka meeting with candidates by himself off-site or virtually, not within Lakers headquarters. After his conversation with Redick, Pelinka met with Pelicans associate head coach James Borrego in Los Angeles on May 20. Several candidates – Boston’s Sam Cassell, Minnesota’s Micah Nori, Denver’s David Adelman and Miami’s Chris Quinn – conducted virtual meetings. On May 29, Borrego became the first candidate to enter the Lakers’ facility to meet again with Pelinka and ownership. In the days before and after Borrego’s second in-person visit, some Lakers stakeholders believed the focus of the head-coaching search centered on Redick. Given the lack of a championship experience-driven hire after Mike Budenholzer went to the Suns and the Clippers kept Ty Lue long-term on a five-year contract extension, sources say Redick’s chances grew for the Lakers, a high-ceiling candidate tasked to balance winning and development and allowed to coach through early mistakes. -via New York Times / June 20, 2024
Both young stars seemed to sense the urgency. The Celtics had been patient with them, even as fans and media had not. But eventually, they both knew that patience would wane. Brown picked up the phone and suggested they work out together. “We’d never really been in the gym [during the summer] together,” Tatum told ESPN. “Maybe socially, but this was really just showing the maturation of us both, and just growing up.” Celtics assistant coach Sam Cassell helped arrange the workouts. Tatum’s trainer, Drew Hanlen, ran them. Celtics great Paul Pierce lifted weights with them and sat in the stands at Harvard Westlake High School in Studio City, California, as the two pushed each other and cemented a bond that carried through one of the most dominant seasons in NBA history — one that ended Monday night with the franchise’s 18th NBA title with a 106-88 win over the Dallas Mavericks in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. -via ESPN / June 18, 2024