EL SEGUNDO – The Los Angeles Lakers announced today that the team has hired Jud Buechler, Brian Keefe, and Theo Robertson as player development coaches on Head Coach Luke Walton’s staff, joining associate head coach Brian Shaw and assistant coaches Jesse Mermuys and Mark Madsen. Additionally, it was announced that Casey Owens has been named assistant coach/advance professional scout and Will Scott has been named to the staff as video coordinator.
Buechler enjoyed a 12-year playing career highlighted by winning three consecutive championships with the Chicago Bulls from 1996-98, and was a member of the 1995-96 Bulls team that went 72-10 in the regular season. The Poway, CA native also suited up for the Nets, Spurs, Warriors, Pistons, Suns, and Magic between the 1990-91 and 2001-02 seasons and appeared in 720 regular season and 71 postseason games.
The University of Arizona alum played four seasons for the Wildcats from 1986-90, averaging 14.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 4.0 assists as a senior, and was a First-Team All-Pac 10 selection before being drafted 38th overall in the 1990 NBA Draft by the Seattle Supersonics. In addition to his basketball accolades, the 48-year-old was also an All-America volleyball player in college.
Keefe comes to L.A. after spending the last two seasons serving as an assistant coach with the New York Knicks. Prior to his stint with the Knicks, Keefe spent seven seasons working with the Oklahoma City Thunder after joining the franchise in the summer of 2007, where he was a player development coach for two years before spending his last five seasons as an assistant coach. During his time with the Thunder, the team reached the post-season five times including a trip to the NBA Finals in 2012. Before joining the Thunder, Keefe worked for two seasons as an assistant video coordinator with the San Antonio Spurs and was a member of the coaching staff that won an NBA Championship in 2007.
The Winchester, MA native began his coaching career at the University of South Florida, where he worked as a graduate assistant in 2001. The following season he was hired as an assistant coach at Bryant University where he worked for four seasons before joining the Spurs. A graduate of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, Keefe played his final two collegiate seasons for the Rebels after transferring from UC Irvine.
Robertson joins the Lakers after spending the previous two seasons with the Golden State Warriors, where he was part of the 2015 NBA championship as the team’s video intern, working with Steve Kerr’s coaching staff assisting with game preparation. He was promoted to video coordinator/player development prior to the 2015-16 season, working on-court with players in addition to his game-planning responsibilities.
After playing collegiately at the University of California from 2005-10 and graduating with a degree in social welfare, Robertson undertook an administrative fellowship with the Pac-12 Conference, and went on to serve as Director of Operations for two seasons on former Cal men’s basketball Head Coach Mike Montgomery's staff.
A native of Pittsburg, CA, Robertson was a key contributor on the Golden Bears' 2010 Pac-10 Championship team, the school’s first conference title in men’s basketball in 50 years. A second-team All-Pac-10 selection in 2010, Robertson's .453 three-point percentage was the best in the conference that season and, at the time, ranked tied for sixth on the school's single-season list. He graduated from Cal as the program's best career three-point shooter at 44.0 percent.
Owens transitions to his role with the Lakers after spending last season serving as Head Coach for their D-league affiliate, the Los Angeles D-Fenders. In his first season as Head Coach of the D-Fenders, Owens led the team to its second Western Conference Championship and a trip to the D-League Finals. In addition, Owens helped produce two NBA Call-Ups in Justin Harper (Detroit Pistons) and Jeff Ayres (L.A. Clippers). Owens got his start with the D-Fenders as an assistant coach for the team during the 2013-14 season. A 17-year veteran of professional basketball, Owens has worked in coaching, player development and scouting at the NBA, NBA D-League, Continental Basketball Association, and international levels, and worked with the Lakers coaching staff throughout their 2015 training camp and preseason and 2016 NBA Summer League.
A 1994 graduate of New Mexico State University, Owens received his B.A. in English before attending Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, earning his Masters of Fine Arts in Writing & Poetics in 1996.
Scott has assisted the Lakers in the video room since the 2011-12 season, while simultaneously working for the D-Fenders. The Los Angeles native was promoted to assistant coach/video coordinator with the D-Fenders last season, where his responsibilities grew to include scouting upcoming opponents and assisting in on-court player development, as the team reached the D-League Finals. During the summers of 2014 and 2015, Scott served as video coordinator of the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks, where he developed video scouting reports on opponents and was intimately involved in game-planning and daily coaching operations.
A graduate of Indiana University with a B.S. in sports marketing and management, Scott was a student manager for the Indiana men’s basketball team from 2009-11 under Head Coach Tom Crean, supporting practice drills, conducting one-on-one player development, and assisting the coaching staff with statistical data, personnel reports, and video edits.