Shay Murphy, a Southern California native who played her college ball at USC before going on to play nine years in the WNBA, has landed a job that SoCal hoopers grow up wanting:
She is now a coach with the Los Angeles Lakers. Dave McMenamin of ESPN broke the news.
The Lakers have added former WNBA player Shay Murphy as a coaching associate, sources told ESPN. The L.A.-area native attended USC and had a pro career that spanned more than a decade overseas and in the WNBA, where she won a title with Phoenix in 2014. pic.twitter.com/CSzkd7pw0F
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) October 3, 2021
Murphy is the first woman to have a coaching role with the Lakers.
A coaching associate is someone on their way to becoming an assistant coach, and they are people who work with players both at practices and pregame, and have other roles in assisting the coaching staff.
Lakers coach Frank Vogel saw changes to his coaching staff this offseason when Jason Kidd left to take over the head coaching job in Dallas. The Lakers added John Lucas III and former NBA head coach David Fizdale to the staff.
