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The Los Angeles Lakers on Friday hired Milwaukee Bucks assistant Darvin Ham as the new head coach to replace Frank Vogel, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Ham has signed a four-year deal, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium.
Adrian Wojnarowski @ojespn
Ham made a strong impression on the Lakers in several areas, including his championship pedigree, dominant presence, coaching star history, and toughness. Ham will begin gathering staff who are expected to include head coaching experience. https://t.co/8hCVatbraw
Vogel was fired on April 11 after a very disappointing season that saw LA only 33-49 and missed the playoffs despite having championship aspirations.
The injuries of LeBron James and Anthony Davis played a major role in the Los Angeles struggles, as did the inability to properly integrate Russell Westbrook into the lineup after the Lakers acquired him from the Washington Wizards, but it was Vogel who pay the price.
Vogel was hired before the 2019-20 season after the Lakers missed the playoffs in six consecutive seasons with Mike D’Antoni, Byron Scott and Luke Walton at the helm.
The decision paid off immediately, as Vogel guided James, Davis and Co. to a 52-19 record and an NBA championship, which was the first in the franchise since 2010.
Winning a title created even higher expectations, however, and the Lakers have not come close to meeting them for the past two seasons.
LA needed to go through the postseason play-in tournament to reach the playoffs in 2020-21 after going 42-30 during the regular season, and fell to eventual Western Conference champion Phoenix Suns in the first round of the playoffs.
A first-round outing alerted Vogel, and there was no chance he would stay when the Lakers were unable to play in the 2021-22 tournament.
Although the Lakers were a flawed team last season, even when James and Davis were healthy, they remained an attractive option for potential candidates to coach.
The LeBron and AD duo can still achieve great things with the right cast and training, plus the unmistakable aura of the Lakers still exists.
In an effort to recover from last season’s big disappointment, the Lakers are surprisingly turning to someone with no previous NBA head coaching experience.
Ham first became an NBA assistant coach with the Lakers from 2011 to 2013 before moving on to the Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks. Ham also played a role in the Bucks ’win at the end of the 2020-21 season.
Going with someone who is not firmly established as the NBA’s head coach is a risk for the Lakers, but as Ham spent eight seasons as an NBA player and won a championship with the Detroit Pistons on 2004, I shouldn’t wear it. long to earn the respect of James, Davis and Co.