Former Suns coach Earl Watson lands new gig, but not in the NBA
During his NBA career as a player, Earl Watson was the epitome of a role player. He was never a star but he was a dependable backup point guard who never strayed from his role. Following his retirement, he went into coaching. He's coached in the NBA and the G League, but he's got a new gig. On Friday it was announced that Earl Watson has joined Steve Lavin's staff as an assistant coach with the San Diego Toreros' men's basketball team as per Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report.
Earl Watson will be the second former UCLA player to join Steve Lavin's staff as an assistant coach alongside Tyus Edney. This will be Lavin's third season as Toreros' head coach. He was hired ahead of the 2022-23 season and has compiled a record of 29-35 over two seasons.
Last season, the Toreros finished with a winning record of 18-15 overall albeit going 7-9 in the West Coast Conference standings.
Watson played under Lavin as a player at UCLA from 1997-2001. Lavin took the helm of the program ahead of the 1997-98 season and with Watson as his point guard, the Bruins made four straight NCAA Tournament appearances including three Sweet 16 runs.
Earl Watson is a respected coach
Earl Watson's first stint as a coach came during the 2014-15 NBA season immediately following his retirement. He was named the head coach of the Austin Spurs, the G League affiliate of the San Antonio Spurs. He led Austin to a 32-18 record and first place in the G League Southwest Division.
Watson was hired by the Phoenix Suns the following year as an assistant coach on Jeff Hornacek's staff. But Hornacek was fired in season and Watson was named as the interim head coach. He had his interim tag removed and given the full-time head coaching position at the end of the 2015-16 season.
Watson was only coach for the Suns for one full season in 2016-17 when they finished with a record of 24-58. He was fired only three games into the 2017-18 season.
Watson reemerged as a coach in the NBA joining Nick Nurse's staff with the Toronto Raptors in 2021. He spent two seasons under Nurse until Nurse was fired by the Raptors in 2023.
As a player, Watson's NBA career spanned 13 seasons and included stints with the Seattle SuperSonics, Memphis Grizzlies, Denver Nuggets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Indiana Pacers, Utah Jazz and Portland Trail Blazers.
He holds career averages of 6.4 points, 2.3 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.0 steals with splits of 41.1 percent shooting from the field, 32.4 percent shooting from the three-point line and 70.3 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
