Former Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham will be back in the NBA as an assistant coach next season, landing a job with the Milwaukee Bucks as their top assistant to Doc Rivers, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
“Darvin Ham is joining the Milwaukee Bucks as the top assistant coach to Doc Rivers, sources tell ESPN,” Wojnarowski tweeted on June 10. “Ham returns to the franchise after spending two years as the Lakers head coach. He had been highly sought-after among teams this spring.”
Los Angeles Lakers Players Were Frustrated With Darvin Ham
When the Los Angeles Lakers fired Ham, it was viewed as a move that was expected. He didn’t have a bad two seasons with the Lakers, losing in the Western Conference Finals two years ago, but the goal was to win a championship, which didn’t happen.
According to Jovan Buha, Shams Charania, and Sam Amick of The Athletic, players grew frustrated with Ham.
“The frustration, which was sometimes so apparent that even opposing players would be made aware of it while sharing the court with the Lakers, didn’t stop at just the lineups and rotations,” Buha, Charania, and Amick wrote. “Players openly criticized Ham’s willingness to allow below-average shooters to get wide-open 3s and believed the team was slow to adjust once a poor shooter was in a rhythm.”
The Lakers felt it was time to move on and did just that, prompting another head coach search, something the franchise has dealt with more often than not over the past decade.
Dan Hurley Expected to Make Decision on June 10
The Los Angeles Lakers made a surprise decision to add Dan Hurley to their head coach search. While it came as a surprise after the initial report, other reports have indicated that he was the Lakers’ top target from the start. JJ Redick was publicly viewed as the top target initially, but that doesn’t look to be the case now.
After firing Ham, the Lakers are in the search for a new head coach. This is as important of a decision as ever as they want to finally get a hire right and keep LeBron James and Anthony Davis happy.
Hurley, a two-time National Champion at UConn, could be a hire that impresses James and Davis, as James has publicly given him credit for the offense he runs on social media.
According to Sam Quinn of CBS, a decision will be made by Hurley by Monday.
“Dan Hurley will make his final decision about whether or not to take the Los Angeles Lakers head coaching job on Monday, CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander confirmed,” Quinn wrote on June 10. “Norlander reports a Hurley decision should be known by early afternoon on the East Coast and adds that UConn’s championship-winning coach has already made his decision privately.
“Hurley may have only recently entered the public’s consciousness as a Lakers candidate, but he has reportedly been the team’s top target from the start.”
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