The Los Angeles Lakers coaching search was a hotly discussed topic among NBA circles after Frank Vogel got the boot in April. Vogel had led the Lakers to an NBA championship in 2020, but after a first-round exit in 2021 was followed by failure to even make the play-in tournament in 2022, his days were numbered.
There were a lot of names floating around to take over from Vogel, with the likes of Terry Stotts and Doc Rivers seemingly in the mix but it was Darvin Ham who managed to get in front of the line and land one of the most prestigious jobs in the NBA. Ham, who had been the assistant coach of the Milwaukee Bucks since 2018, has been backed by Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kevin Garnett congratulated him on getting the job as well:
Kevin Garnett shouts out Darvin Ham for landing the Lakers head coaching job 👀
(via @tic_pix on IG) pic.twitter.com/7c1NyHHAOL
— Paolo Songco (@PaoloSongcoNBA) May 28, 2022
“Congratulations D Ham… you deserve it bro. Go in there n get em right #darvinham”
It was a bit of a surprise to see Garnett backing him this way after he had roasted the Lakers on Instagram for the names that were being considered for the head coaching role. There was perhaps some regret on Garnett’s end for his wide-ranging remark earlier as the hire has been termed as a good one among NBA circles.
Ham does have a good reputation around the league, but this is his first head coaching gig, so some growing pains might be coming along the way. Also, while it is one of the more prestigious jobs in the NBA, it’s definitely not all roses and sunshine. He needs to figure out a way to make things work with this flawed roster and the Russell Westbrook situation needs to be properly dealt with as well. Only time will tell if Ham can pull this off, but for what it’s worth, he does seem to have KG’s backing.
