Incoming Lakers coach Luke Waltn hired his long-time associate former Arizona Wildcat, Jesse Mermuys, to be his newest assistant coach
Lakers head coach Luke Walton hired former Laker Brian Shaw as his assistant coach and has since added another member to his coaching staff. It’s all but confirmed now that D-League head coach for the Toronto Raptors 905 head coach Jesse Mermuys will join Walton and Shaw on the bench in LA.
Jesse Mermuys might not be a name you’ve heard before, but he is familiar to most Arizona Wildcats fans—which obviously includes Walton. Jesse was the Director of Basketball Operations for the Arizona Wildcats under Hall of Fame Coach Lute Olson from 2006-08.
Before joining the Lakers, Mermuys was the head coach and assistant general manager of the Toronto Raptors D-League basketball team, the Raptors 905. Before his position with the Raptors 905, he was a former assistant coach for both the Toronto Raptors under Dwane Casey as well as for the Houston Rockets where he also worked as director of player personnel.
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Prior to his NBA assistant coaching positions, he served as the video coordinator at New Mexico State University, was an assistant coach at Southern Utah University, and an assistant video coordinator and advance scout for the Denver Nuggets
Luke Walton obviously played for the Wildcats between 1999-2003, which is the start of his ties to Mermuys as the new assistant attended UA until graduating in 2004. Walton and former Arizona teammate Richard Jefferson hired Mermuys to run their summer basketball camps. He also worked as the program director and head coach of Walton’s AAU basketball program in 2004.
Steve Rivera, author of the book100 Things Arizona Fans Need to Know and Do Before They Die, told Lake Show Life of Mermuys, “He was a good guy and a hard worker. The guys loved him. You knew he’d have a nice future.”
Here’s some recent post-game footage of the Raptors 605 head coach:
Mermuys has worked with NBA, NBA Development League, high school and AAU basketball players. He certainly has a ton of experience coaching young players. That along with his long-standing relationship with Walton makes him definitely seem like a good fit for the Lakers.
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Walton is not done putting his staff together, but considering he has a former Lakers player in Shaw and now a comrade from Arizona in-tow, you have to wonder what the rest of that staff will look like.