The Los Angeles Lakers are hiring Darvin Ham as head coach, several sources confirmed to The Athletic. Los Angeles fired former coach Frank Vogel on April 11, the day after the end of the regular season.
Ham, 48, has been part of the Bucks’ squad as Mike Budenholzer’s assistant since 2018, winning his first NBA championship as a coach during the 2020-21 season. He returned to Los Angeles after serving as an assistant with the Lakers from 2011 to 2013. Ham also served as an assistant coach with the Atlanta Hawks from 2013 to 2018.
“So damn EMOTION !!!!!!!!” LeBron James wrote on Twitter. “Congratulations and welcome Coach Dham !!”
Ham’s career spanned from 1996 to 2005. Ham also won an NBA championship from the Detroit Pistons in 2004.
Other finalists for the job were Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson and former Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts. The Lakers (33-49) finished 11th in the Western Conference, not reaching the playoffs.
Hall of Fame member and former Lakers vice president Magic Johnson said Monday he wanted a former player hired as the Lakers’ next coach.
“In addition to Erik Spoelstra, the other three who are in the final four are probably former players,” he told The Athletic. “So I think that says a lot about these young ex-players asking for respect right away, they’ve done it before. I’m not saying I have to be an ex-player, but I’m saying you have to look at what’s going on.
“But the most important thing for me is accountability. They have to hold everyone accountable, from one to 15 years old. And we moved away from responsibility. The boys have never talked about it this season. It was always their fault. of someone else. I hated that. Never, “Hey, I played wrong. Hey, it’s up to me. “
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