In the aftermath of his second-straight NBA Emirates Cup championship, Bucks assistant Darvin Ham reflected on his prior tenure with the Purple and Gold. As he looks back on it, Ham feels that he deserves more credit for taking them to the Conference Finals in 2023 and that he would have gotten an extension just about anywhere else.
“To do as well as I did… I swear to God, anywhere else I’m probably looking at an extension,” said Ham, via Andscape. “I’m not talking feelings, just facts. They go from not making the playoffs to the Conference Finals, and we won the in-season tournament… people always talk about us losing to Denver, but they don’t talk about how we got to Denver. We beat a kick-ass young squad in Memphis, and we beat Stephen Curry and Golden State.”
Darvin Ham started as an assistant with the Bucks and worked right alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo for years. In the summer of 2022, Ham was officially hired as the Lakers’ head coach to replace the championship-winning Frank Vogel.
At first, Ham brought a sense of togetherness that the team was struggling with at the time. He tried to mend the relationship with Russell Westbrook and establish a brand-new culture in the locker room.
During Ham’s tenure, there were many ups and downs for the Lakers, including some miserable times when the franchise was at rock bottom. But Ham did have some success as well, especially during the 2023 playoffs when he helped lead them to the Western Conference Finals.
Naturally, the Lakers ended up losing the series in a 4-game sweep to the Denver Nuggets but they went much further than anyone would have predicted at the time. Of course, the Lakers haven’t been back to the Conference Finals since then and it’s convinced a lot of people that the real problem with the Lakers was not coach Ham, but rather an inadequate roster.
Whatever the case, Darvin became the scapegoat for the Lakers’ struggles and he was fired after a miserable and chaotic season. In his place, the Lakers have brought in JJ Redick, and the results have been mixed so far.
Currently, at 14-12, the Lakers are 10th in the West and just half a game back from the 6th seed. Behind LeBron James and Anthony Davis, they can challenge any team in the NBA. So far, however, Redick’s transition has been far from seamless and some of their old bad habits are starting to surface again.
As for Ham, he’s feeling pretty good after helping the Bucks win the NBA Cup this week. It’s his second straight year winning the event but this time it’s back with the Bucks as a top assistant coach. Love him or hate him, this latest victory is sweet revenge for Ham, who feels like he was underappreciated by the Lakers.
The Lakers (17x champions) have a long history of success and titles, but that also means it comes with increased pressure to live up to a higher standard. It can turn miserable for those who fail to meet that standard and that’s exactly what happened to Ham when the fans and players turned on him.
In a way, winning the 2024 Emirates Cup was like sweet revenge for Darvin but the job is not yet finished. The Bucks are going all-in for the championship and now that the mid-season tournament is over the hard work can begin to maximize the roster for one last title push.
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