Bucks head coach Doc Rivers still doesn’t understand what happened between Darvin Ham and the Los Angeles Lakers. In a recent chat with Talk Basket, Rivers spoke candidly on Ham’s firing and explained why it made no sense for the Lakers to do it.
“I’m not going to get into the whole thing that happened there, but he took a team to a 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,” said Rivers via Bucks. “It literally makes no sense, but it happens. It happens to all of us. It’s part of what we do. But Darvin Ham’s a coach, he should be on the sidelines, and I wanted him next to me.”
The Bucks had their own head coaching situation last season, which is when Doc Rivers came in and tried to establish order. This summer, after watching Ham get kicked out of Los Angeles, he brought him back to the Bucks (his former team) as one of his top assistants.
Just two years ago, Ham was first hired as the Lakers coach and there were high hopes after he came in to replace Frank Vogel. Inheriting a broken and shattered locker room, Ham tried his best to unite the guys and implement a system that played to the strengths of every player.
But as more time passed, it became apparent that Ham was in over his head. His schemes and rotations were constantly under scrutiny and reports claim that he lost the respect of the players within his first six months on the job.
Somehow, he was still able to find success with the team. In the spring of 2023, he helped lead the Lakers on a surprising run to the West Finals despite finishing 7th in the standings. The performance was impressive given that they had struggled all year just to keep their playoff position.
A few months later, Ham coached the Lakers to victory during the inaugural in-season tournament. The Lakers were major underdogs to advance but their resilience and fierce determination pushed them through an undefeated run.
In just two years, Darvin Ham had plenty of success with the Lakers but it just wasn’t enough to justify keeping him around. At 39 years old, LeBron James does not have time to waste on a coach who’s holding his team back.
So when the 2024 offseason began, and LeBron was preparing to hit free agency, the Lakers wasted no time to part ways with Darvin and pursue a coach that appealed to their two biggest stars.
Initially, it was Dan Hurley but after he rejected the Lakers’ advances, the Lakers settled on JJ Redick. Redick has no experience in this role and is nearly as old as LeBron James himself, but the vibes have already been much better than they were at any point last season.
Whether you love or hate the way that Darvin Ham’s departure was handled, it’s proving to be the right choice now given what we know about the situation. The Lakers lost their faith in Darvin and Doc Rivers still can’t believe that given all that he accomplished over the past two seasons.
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