According to Mike McDaniel of Sports Illustrated on Friday, the Los Angeles Lakers have named Darvin Ham of Saginaw, Michigan as their new head coach. Ham replaces Frank Vogel, who was fired on April 11.
This will have been the first time that Ham has been a head coach in the National Basketball Association. He has previously been an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Lakers (2011 to 2013), the Atlanta Hawks (2013 to 2018), and the Milwaukee Bucks (since 2018). While with the Bucks, Ham was an assistant coach under Mike Budenholzer when the Bucks won the NBA Finals in 2021.
As a player, Ham played eight NBA seasons from 1996 to 1998, and again from 1999 to 2005 with the Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, Washington Wizards, Milwaukee Bucks, Atlanta Hawks and Detroit Pistons. He was on the Pistons squad that won the 2004 NBA Finals. During his player career, Ham also played one season in Spain.
The Lakers underachieved in 2021-22. Not just a little. A lot. Expectations were gigantic this past season with the arrival of Russell Westbrook. The Lakers were expected to make a deep run in the NBA Playoffs, and instead they could not even make the playoffs or the NBA Play-in Tournament. With a record of 33 wins and 49 losses, the Lakers were in 11th place in the Western Conference.
The fact that the Lakers were one game back of the San Antonio Spurs to qualify in this play-in tournament was bizarre. The play-in tournament is extremely embarrassing when you consider the fact the Spurs were a participant when they had an awful regular season record of 34 wins and 48 losses. For a comprehensive analysis on the terrible Lakers’ season and the principal people that were to blame for the Lakers’ troubles, please read Joel Beatton’s column, Who is to Blame for the Lakers’ Demise?
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