Darvin Ham’s tenure as the Los Angeles Lakers head coach came to an abrupt end this summer. Rob Pelinka and the front office decided to part ways with him following a first-round exit at the hands of the Denver Nuggets. The humbling came one year after the Lakers made a run to the Western Conference Finals, where they also lost to the Nuggets.
Since leaving the Purple and Gold, Ham has teamed up with Doc Rivers as an assistant coach for the Milwaukee Bucks. During a recent post-practice news conference, Rivers made his thoughts on Ham’s release very clear, questioning the Lakers decision making process.
“He took a team to the Western Finals, and then the following year he won the in-season tournament, which they say we should have a lot of value on and then they release him, it literally makes no sense,” Rivers said. “Darvin Ham is a coach, and he should be on the sidelines and I wanted him next to me.”
Ham spent two seasons with the Lakers, overseeing a total of 164 regular-season games and 21 playoff games. He secured a 90-74 record during the two regular-seasons he was head coach, along with a 9-12 postseason record.
Unfortunately for Ham, his first foray into being a head coach came in the pressure cooker of the Crypto.com arena, where he had LeBron James and Anthony Davis. When you have two of the best players in the world on your roster, there isn’t much room for failure, and for the Lakers, anything less than a championship is often deemed as such.
By returning to the Bucks, Ham is rejoining a franchise he spent four years with between 2018-22. He was an assistant on Mike Budenholzer’s championship-winning roster. Therefore, he is both respected and trusted within the Bucks franchise and should easily slot back into his former role.
Ham will likely be keen to return to a head coaching role in the future. However, for now, working as an assistant is a smart move to keep involved in the ever-changing landscape of the NBA. Kenny Atkinson followed a similar path after leaving the Brooklyn Nets and recently got the opportunity to return as a head coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Coaching the Lakers was always a risk. Ham did better than most admit, as Rivers was pointing out. However, for now, taking a step back is certainly the best way for him to take a step forward in the future.
