In a perfect world, Darvin Ham would still be the Los Angeles Lakers head coach, but management decided to go in another direction. While the Lakers are still hunting for his replacement, Ham didn’t take long to latch on with the Milwaukee Bucks as the top assistant on Doc Rivers’s coaching staff.
Ham no doubt deserves a second chance at latching onto a coaching staff, he’s been affiliated with the NBA as a coach since 2008, and since 1996 as a player. But after a 90-74 record, which included back-to-back playoff appearances, the Lakers wanted to move on.
This gave Ham the opportunity to consider several offers, but the Bucks were the one who won out in the end.
As Gery Woelfel reports, Giannis Antetokounmpo was heavily involved in getting Ham to join the staff, but he also adds that the coach may have accepted the job while having plans to take over for Doc Rivers in due time.
“I recently chatted with a few NBA sources since ex-Lakers HC Darvin Ham joined the Bucks staff. They were adamant in saying Giannis Antetokounmpo had major input in Ham’s hiring (shocking, eh?). Some of those same sources also contend Ham, who had offers from several other teams, took the Bucks job with the assumption he’ll eventually succeed Doc Rivers as the Bucks HC.”
Gery Woelfel on Darvin Ham joining Milwaukee Bucks
Rivers has been in Milwaukee for just half a season — for 36 regular season games to be exact, but in today’s NBA landscape, it doesn’t take much for a seemingly successful franchise to hit the reset button again.
Heck, the Bucks fired Mike Budenholzer just two seasons after winning an NBA Finals, so if Rivers can’t deliver, chances are his time in Milwaukee won’t last long either. If so, it sounds like Coach Ham would be ready to pounce on the opportunity to coach Antetokounmpo again after previously doing so as an assistant from 2018-22.
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