Rex Kalamian Will Join the Clippers’ Coaching Staff, per Report

Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Rex Kalamian will join the Clippers as an assistant coach for Doc Rivers. Kalamian was an assistant for Dwane Casey in Toronto for the past three seasons as a defensive guru, but didn’t receive the Raptors’ head coaching gig when Casey was fired a month back. He has been an assistant coach in the NBA for over 20 years, and actually got his start in the league back in 1992 with... the LA Clippers! Rex was a scout with the Clips for three seasons, and then spent 9 seasons as an assistant coach before his removal when Mike Dunleavy took the head coaching spot in 2003. He then had brief stints on several teams before becoming Scott Brooks’ lead assistant in Oklahoma City, where he served from 2009 to 2015.

Rex was able to beef up the Raptors’ defense despite some glaring individual defensive weak points on the roster, though that same defense did collapse in the playoffs this year. He’s an experienced, in-demand assistant coach, and will probably take over Mike Woodson’s former role on Doc Rivers’ staff as defensive tactician and lead assistant. This is by all accounts a good hire for the Clippers, and Rex’s presence will be welcome on a team that struggled defensively down the stretch in 2018. Welcome back to the Clippers, Rex!