After a disappointing 2021/22 season, heads were always going to roll within the Los Angeles Lakers organization. The first and biggest one was head coach Frank Vogel, who was fired in April this year, and the team soon began their search for the next man at the helm.
They finally decided on Milwaukee Bucks’ assistant Darvin Ham, as per Adrian Wojnarowski, who reported on the hire on Friday night. Ham actually began his coaching career in the NBA with the Lakers as an assistant back in 2011, and his latest pit stop was with the Milwaukee Bucks, with whom he won a championship last year. There were rumors that LeBron James wanted Doc Rivers over Ham as the new coach, but the King expressed his excitement at Ham getting the job:
So damn EXCITED!!!!!!!! Congrats and welcome Coach DHam!! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 #LakeShow💜💛
— LeBron James (@KingJames) May 28, 2022
“So damn EXCITED!!!!!!!! Congrats and welcome Coach DHam!! #LakeShow “
Ham does have a good reputation around the league, but he now gets thrown into the fire, as there are plenty of question marks surrounding the Lakers. The Russell Westbrook situation doesn’t seem to have a clear solution except for trading him away, but the team has had a hard time finding a good offer. Anthony Davis, meanwhile, continues to be plagued by injuries and LeBron isn’t getting younger either.
Ham will need to quickly figure out a way to make things work in LA and he’d hope for some luck with injuries along the way. It is a great opportunity for him to make a mark in his first head coaching gig, but at the same time, it’s difficult to see him having a great deal of success with this flawed roster. There is a reason the Lakers failed to even make the play-in tournament this season, and it wasn’t just all on Vogel. Changes have to be made on the roster or else Ham might be set up to fail, just like Vogel, unfortunately was.
