Tony Mejia @TonyMejiaNBA
Dwight Howard will have another familiar face greeting him in L.A., per @ChrisBHaynes. Steve Clifford is joining the Lakers as an assistant.
Former Orlando Magic assistant coach Steve Clifford has agreed to join Los Angeles Lakers head coach Mike Brown on his coaching staff, CSNNW.com has learned.
The terms of the agreement are expected to be finalized by the end of the week.
Clifford was in talks with the Portland Trail Blazers in recent days for their assistant opening as well. However, the chance to be a part of the Laker organization was too much to pass up, CSNNW.com was told from a source close to the situation.
Clifford was also one of the four finalist for the Trail Blazers head coach position before the team eventually selected former Dallas Mavericks assistant Terry Stotts to be the head guy.
In Los Angeles, Clifford will be a familiar face to the team's new franchise center Dwight Howard.
Initially, the Magic had shown interest in Clifford filling their head coaching vacancy before the team decided to go in a different direction and later hired Jacque Vaughn from San Antonio.
From 2003-‘07, Clifford served as a member of the Houston Rockets coaching staff and in June of 2007, Clifford joined the Orlando Magic as an assistant coach. The Magic have made the playoffs all four years that Clifford has been an assistant.
Clifford considers the Van Gundy brothers (Jeff and Stan) as mentors and models himself after Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau. Known for his defense first mentality, Clifford’s teams have been ranked in the top 10 defensively in each of the past four seasons.
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