According to numerous reports, Lindsey Harding is joining J.J. Redick’s coaching team at the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers have not yet made public the names of Redick’s assistant coach hires, which also include Scott Brooks and Nate McMillan, two former NBA head coaches. Harding will be the first female assistant coach for the 17-time NBA champion franchise. As the first woman to win the title, Harding, 40, was named the G League’s coach of the year for her work with the Stockton Kings in the previous season. The former first-round choice in the WNBA draft was formerly a scout, assistant coach, and player development coach with the Philadelphia 76ers and Sacramento Kings. Since their time as Duke’s four-year collegiate stars, Harding and Redick have been close. Before starting her nine-year WNBA career, which included two seasons with the Los Angeles Sparks, Harding was named the 2007 Naismith College Player of the Year.
Because the Lakers haven’t made Redick’s first coaching staff, which also includes former NBA head coaches Nate McMillan and Scott Brooks, public, the individual spoke on condition of anonymity. Harding will be the first female assistant coach for the 17-time NBA champion franchise. As the first woman to win the title, Harding, 40, was named the G League’s coach of the year for her work with the Stockton Kings in the previous season. The former first-round choice in the WNBA draft was formerly a scout, assistant coach, and player development coach with the Philadelphia 76ers and Sacramento Kings. Since their time as Duke’s four-year collegiate stars, Harding and Redick have been close. Before starting her nine-year WNBA career, which included two seasons with the Los Angeles Sparks, Harding was named the 2007 Naismith College Player of the Year.
Before taking over as head coach of Stockton, Harding worked for the Kings for four seasons as an assistant coach and player development coach
In addition, she has served as head coach of the women’s national teams for Mexico and South Sudan, the latter of which was the first to compete in a women’s competition when they went to the FIBA AfroBasket qualification. The Lakers defeat the Cavaliers for their second consecutive league summer victory. Before joining the Kings, Harding worked as a player development coach with the Philadelphia 76ers. While employed by the 76ers in 2018–19, she made history as the first black female professional personnel scout in the NBA. Redick spent 2017–19 as a player with Philadelphia.
The top choice in the 2007 WNBA Draft, Harding played 270 career WNBA games for the Minnesota Timberwolves (2007–08), Washington (2009–10), Atlanta (2011–12), the Sparks (2013–14), New York (2016), and Phoenix (2016). In each of those games, she averaged 9.8 points, four assists, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.1 steals. She also performed abroad in Lithuania, Russia, and Turkey. Harding was named the 2007 Naismith College Player of the Year while he was a player at Duke from 2002 to 2007. Redick spent 2002–06 as a Duke student before beginning his 15-year NBA career. In 2018, Harding was inducted into the Duke Athletics Hall of Fame, and her No. 10 was retired by Duke.
Lindsey Harding: Who is she?
The previous season, Harding served as head coach of the Sacramento Kings’ G League club, the Stockton Kings. Since 2022, she has also led the women’s national basketball team for Mexico. Given that Harding is only 49 years old and recently concluded her ten-year WNBA career in 2016, her ascent has been swift. Harding, a point guard who was selected first overall out of Duke in 2007, played for six different clubs over her ten seasons and finished second in the WNBA Rookie of the Year competition that year. In 210 of 270 games that she started, Harding averaged 9.8 points and 4.0 assists per contest for the WNBA. She participated for the Atlanta Dream in the 2011 WNBA Finals.
Following her playing career, Harding worked with the 76ers in 2018–19 in player development and scouting. She then became a player development coach for the Sacramento Kings. She was an easy choice for the organization’s G League club because of her Sacramento ties. In Harding’s first season on the job, the Stockton Kings finished 24-10, and she was named G League Coach of the Year in April. She was the first female recipient of the honor, which made the NBA take notice of her again. In the spring, Harding was even granted an interview for the head coaching position with the Hornets; nevertheless, Charles Lee was selected in the end. Although the NBA has yet to name a female head coach, it seems probable that one will be appointed soon. Harding is quite likely going to be the first to take this step.
The individual spoke under anonymity because Redick’s initial coaching staff has not been made public by the Lakers
As the first woman to win the title, Harding, 40, was named the G League’s coach of the year for her work with the Stockton Kings in the previous season. The former first-round choice in the WNBA draft was formerly a scout, assistant coach, and player development coach with the Philadelphia 76ers and Sacramento Kings.
Since their time as Duke’s four-year collegiate stars, Harding and Redick have been close. Before starting her nine-year WNBA career, which included two seasons with the Los Angeles Sparks, Harding was named the 2007 Naismith College Player of the Year.