According to Adrian Wojnarowski, the Los Angeles Lakers have signed Milwaukee Bucks assistant Darvin Ham as their head coach. There were several applicants interviewed by the Lakers before narrowing the field to three finalists: Ham, Terry Stotts, and Kenny Atkinson, the former head coach of the Brooklyn Nets.
According to Shams Charania, Ham beat over more experienced candidates to get a four-year contract as the team’s head coach. During his playing days, Ham was a small forward who had an NBA career that lasted for over 10 years.
A champion with the 2004 Detroit Pistons and Slam Dunk Contest participant, he has subsequently established himself as an assistant coach. It was with the Lakers that Ham landed his first NBA coaching position after a brief stint in the G League.
Ham to sign four-year deal with Los Angeles Lakers
In the three years that he worked under Phil Jackson (2011-2013), he came up just short of guiding the Los Angeles Lakers to their last two NBA titles.
“According to the buzz in NBA coaching circles over the weekend, Ham has likewise been promised the autonomy to pick his coaching staff and is said to have received assurances that Lakers senior advisor Kurt Rambis will not be a regular presence in coaching meetings like he was with Vogel. If those promises come to fruition and Ham actually receives all that latitude, they will rank as significant concessions secured by a first-time NBA head coach.”
Marc Stein of Substack
