Coach Brown Hires Kuester To Coaching Staff

New Lakers Coach Mike Brown announced officially the hiring of John Kuester to his coaching staff.

“I’m extremely excited to have John join the team as a member of my coaching staff,” Brown said in a statement released by the Lakers. “Having previously worked together in Cleveland, I know what assets he will bring to the team. His ability to effectively communicate with the players while teaching them valuable skills on both ends of the court is a quality that I respect and value. I look forward to working with him again.”

Brown still has yet to announce who will fill his other coaching positions, but The Times' Broderick Turner recently reported that the Lakers also plan to announce the hiring sometime of this week of Chuck Person and Quin Snyder. Numerous outlets have also indicated the Brown plans to have former Moscow CSKA coach Ettore Messina serve as a consultant or special assistant role, though nothing has been formally announced.

Kuester's recent stint with the Detroit Pistons didn't end well. The defining mark of Kuester's 57-107 mark entailed a number of Pistons players leading a revolt that entailed five of them skipping practice. When he was ejected during a regular-season game, several Detroit players could be seen laughing over the incident.

Nonetheless, Kuester earned plenty of credit for helping the Cavaliers' offense when he was an assistant under Brown from 2007-09 where he was assigned to be the team's "offensive coordinator."

Kuester has had several assistant coaching stints, including the University of Richmond (1980-81), Boston University (1981-83), the Boston Celtics (1995-97), Philadelphia 76ers (1997-2003), Detroit (2003-04), the New Jersey Nets (2004-05), the 76ersagain (2005-06), the Orlando Magic (2006-07) and the Cleveland Cavaliers (2007-09).

Kuester's head coaching experience includes succeeding Rick Pitino at Boston U, as the youngest coach in NCAA Division I history, with a two-year stint from 1983-85, and then moving to George Washington from 1985-1990. In the 1988-89 season Kuester's Colonials went 1-27. He finished with a 81-122 record coaching college basketball.