Lindsey Harding appears to be swapping Northern California for Southern California.
Harding, who is coming off a G League Coach of the Year award in her first season with the Stockton Kings, has agreed to join the Los Angeles Lakers as an assistant coach on JJ Redick's staff, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Tuesday, citing sources.
Harding, 40, has ties with Redick from their days with the Philadelphia 76ers and at Duke University. Redick, a first-time head coach, has a staff that is headlined by former NBA head coaches, such as Nate McMillan, Scott Brooks and Greg St. Jean.
The Charlotte Hornets had been granted permission to interview Harding for their head-coaching vacancy in April, but eventually opted for Charles Lee from the Boston Celtics.
In Harding's inaugural campaign, Stockton finished the regular season with the best record in the league at 24-10. The Kings also clinched the Western Conference's No. 1 seed to make its third playoff appearance in Stockton history, but fell to the Oklahoma City Blue in the semifinals.
Harding, a Duke product, was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 WNBA Draft and played in the league for nine seasons -- including time overseas -- before retiring from playing in 2017.
She spent four seasons as an assistant coach with Sacramento before she was selected to become Stockton's head coach in the summer of 2023.
Since 2021, Harding has also held head-coaching roles with the South Sudan national women's team and the Mexican national women's team.
Harding would be the latest coach from either Sacramento or Stockton to land a major role elsewhere.
Former Stockton head coach Bobby Jackson became an assistant on the 76ers in 2023, while the Brooklyn Nets made Sacramento assistant Jordi Fernandez their next head coach in mid-April.
