A native of San Leandro, California, Phil Handy played for the University of Hawaii from 1993-95 and helped the Rainbow Warriors to their first NCAA Tournament since 1972. Following his college career, he also played professionally internationally throughout Europe and Australia for several years.
Handy started his NBA coaching career in 2011 as a player development coach with the Los Angeles Lakers under head coach Mike Brown. Recognized as one of the best player development coaches in all of basketball, Handy has coached and developed strong relationships with some of the biggest stars in the game, including the late Kobe Bryant, Kyrie Irving, and current Laker LeBron James.
The 2022-23 season marks Phil Handy’s fourth season as a front-of-the-bench assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers. In his first season as a member of the Lakers coaching staff, Handy helped lead the team to a 52–19 record and an NBA Championship while having the best record in the Western Conference and third-best record in the NBA.
Before becoming a member of the 2020 NBA Champion’s coaching staff, Phil Handy served as an assistant coach for the Toronto Raptors, following five seasons in the same role with the Cleveland Cavaliers (2013-18).
Overall, Handy has coached teams to an unprecedented six consecutive NBA Finals appearances from 2015-20, winning titles with the Lakers, Raptors and Cavaliers in 2020, 2019 and 2016, respectively. In addition to professional coaching, Handy is also the Founder & Owner of 94FeetofGame, a basketball training app where he inspires the art of development skills all over the world.
