Justin Robinson leaves Duke staff, heads to Lakers

Justin Robinson is leaving Duke to work with a different alum of the program.

Robinson has been hired to JJ Redick’s staff with the Los Angeles Lakers. He will be a player development coach after holding the title “director of player development” at Duke for about the last 18 months.

This is the third departure from Duke’s coaching staff since the end of the season. Jai Lucas actually left at the end of the regular season to take over as head coach at Miami; Will Avery left the staff in the spring.

Robinson joined the Blue Devils in Nov. 2023 when his playing career ended. He had been playing in the Israeli National League.

He’s the second hire off of Duke’s staff by an NBA team in the last couple of years. Amile Jefferson was Duke’s director of player development and then was promoted to an assistant role for Jon Scheyer’s first season, in 2022-23; in June 2023, he was hired by the Boston Celtics and is still with the organization.

As a player, Robinson went from an end-of-the-bench role to being a valuable part of Duke’s team in the 2019-20 season that was cut short by COVID. He played in 55 career games; what turned out to be his final game at Duke was an 89-76 win against UNC at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Robinson had 13 points, six rebounds, four blocks and three assists in that game — the only start of his career.