Lakers Bolster Coaching Staff With Addition of Lionel Hollins

The hiring of Frank Vogel as Los Angeles Lakers head coach and Jason Kidd as an assistant was considered underwhelming, partially due to their combined lack of experience or success.

In order to balance the younger, still mostly unproven coaches, the Lakers have brought in a trusted veteran with the respect of LeBron James in former Memphis Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins.

A former point guard who started on a Portland Trail Blazers team that won an NBA championship, Hollins brought that tough, gritty, hard style to Memphis. Quickly dubbed "Grind City," Hollins' Grizzlies teams made two Western Conference Finals in three years around a core of Rudy Gay, Mike Conley, Marc Gasol, and Zach Randolph. Wily veterans like Shane Battier and Tony Allen quickly became indispensable too.

Hollins hasn't coached since 2015, when he was canned as head coach of the Brooklyn Nets following a 10-27 start.

Hollins is as demonstrative a figure as they come. He's the boss, and what he says goes. On a scrappy Grizzlies team full of underrated players and castoffs both young and old, that style worked. That demeanor could work in Los Angeles, as a largely young, inexperienced core outside of LeBron could get whipped into shape quickly by the drill sergeant that Hollins is.