SACRAMENTO, Calif. — One week after the Sacramento Kings season concluded, three members of Luke Walton’s coaching staff will interview for the head coaching position of the team’s G League affiliate in Stockton.
According to sources, Bobby Jackson, Lindsey Harding and Jonah Herscu will interview for the open Stockton head coaching job this week. All three candidates serve as assistant coaches for player development with the Kings under Walton.
The new coach for the Stockton Kings would replace Ty Ellis, who was hired when the franchise relocated from Reno in 2018. He led Stockton to the playoffs in 2019, but the team was one of several teams to shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ellis' contract expired last season and further changes were made last summer in the front office of the G League affiliate, as Kings general manager Monte McNair replaced Anthony McClish as Stockton's GM for Paul Johnson, to also serve as his Director of Basketball Operations in Sacramento.
The continuity between McNair and Johnson is the intent for the three internal coaching candidates, who would help bring synergy between Walton’s system in Sacramento and the new coaching staff in Stockton.
Jackson, 48, spent six seasons in Sacramento as one of the franchise’s most beloved players among the fan base, especially during the height of the Kings’ success in the early 2000’s. He helped get Sacramento to the Western Conference Finals in the 2001-02 season, and was named the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year the following season.
Jackson’s coaching experience includes an assistant coaching role with the Timberwolves, as well as in the collegiate scouting department for Minnesota, before doing the same for Sacramento. He was added to Dave Joerger’s coaching staff back in 2018 and remained in place the following season when Kings general manager Vlade Divac hired Walton.
Prior to joining Walton’s staff two seasons ago, Harding, 36, served as a player development coach for Philadelphia after nine seasons in the WNBA. She also served as a 76ers scout before her promotion to the coaching staff, and received her first NBA coaching experience with Toronto’s Summer League squad in 2017.
The former Duke star was recently named head coach of South Sudan’s basketball team.
Herscu, 29, has the most experience working alongside Walton, spending three seasons with the ex-Lakers head coach before the two joined Sacramento in 2019. In addition to his experience as a player development coach with the Kings and Lakers, Herscu’s has also served as an assistant coach in the G League and the WNBA, in addition to his vast experience as a video coordinator.
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