Former Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham reflected on his time with his former team. Ham was an interesting figure in Los Angeles, as fans and players alike felt like they were on a rollercoaster ride with him in charge of the Lakers’ rotation.
While he ultimately got fired for his questionable methods in coaching, it seems that there are no hard feelings between Ham and his former team.
Darvin Ham Recalls His Time with the Lakers
From 2022 to 2024, the Lakers were led by Ham. It was an emotional ride for Lakers fans as Ham came up with several hit-or-miss plays. In 2023, Ham led the Lakers to a surprising Western Conference Finals appearance against the Denver Nuggets.
While this gave fans a spark of hope that the Lakers could win another title that year, the Nuggets ultimately decimated them with a clean sweep.
Then in 2024, while Ham and his players managed to secure a playoff spot from the Play-In tournament for the second consecutive time, they ultimately lost in the first round to the team that beat them in the Western Conference Finals the season prior.
However, it was due to Ham’s questionable rotation in the first round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs that he got himself fired. Certain players who could’ve helped the matchup against the Nuggets didn’t see many minutes on the court.
Then, other players who weren’t necessarily flourishing had more of the spotlight. This led to his team growing frustrated with him, leading to Ham getting the boot.
Despite the complicated history, the former Lakers coach believes that he did all that he could for his team as their head coach. During an episode of the “Hoop Genius Podcast,” Ham shared his thoughts on his time in Los Angeles.
“I’m in the facts, man, not feelings. And my time there, we did a lot of cleaning up,” Ham said (timestamp: 29:06). “The roster was imbalanced. It was a lot that was going on between our star players, and just trying to weed through that, figure all that out. And we got to a place where we were able to make a deal that really spearheaded our run to the Western Conference finals that year.”
“I thank all of those guys for playing hard, putting it on the line for me,” Ham continued.
“Again, that’s the brightest light on stage in all of sports, let alone just the NBA. And so, I thought I navigated it well. I had a principle where I never sh*tted on my players. I always try to protect my players in the media. Probably wasn’t the case in our film sessions, but in the national, international media, I always try to keep it solid, and stay on message: Being competitive, being together, being accountable to one another.”
Since leaving Los Angeles, Ham is now spending his days serving as the top assistant coach for the Milwaukee Bucks under head coach Doc Rivers.
