The Los Angeles Lakers are reportedly set to hire Darvin Ham as their new head coach. Ham was previously an assistant coach with the Milwaukee Bucks and has agreed to a four-year deal to coach the Lakers.
The Lakers were impressed by Ham’s championship pedigree and his ability to command the players’ respect in the locker room. Ham got his first assistant coaching position with the Lakers in 2011 and was with the organization until 2013.
Following the 2013 season Ham went on to coach for the Atlanta Hawks before joining the Bucks in 2018. Ham will take over for Frank Vogel, who was fired after going 33-49 this season.
Ham beat out Kenny Atkinson and Terry Stotts for the Lakers head coaching job. Ham is known for being respected and loved in the locker room. He will give it to you straight and hold players accountable, which is what the Lakers need.
One of the first things Ham needs to do is get everybody on the same page and lay out his offensive and defensive philosophy. The Lakers had poor chemistry last year, which will need to be addressed in order to achieve any kind of on court success.
If the new coach can get LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook on the same page, the Lakers could be a dangerous team. However, it will be a challenging task trying to get Westbrook, a strong-minded player coming off one of the worst seasons of his career, and Anthony Davis, who missed time due to injury, and an aging LeBron to buy in.
James, Davis, and Westbrook have to first be on the court together to develop chemistry, something that proved easier said than done in 2021-22. Last season the three stars saw limited minutes on the court due to injuries to James and Davis.
Another priority for Ham is improving the Lakers’ defense; an area where they ranked near the bottom of the NBA in this past season. Getting younger athletic players on the wing will go a long way towards helping the Lakers’ defense this year. Last season, the Lakers relied on too many old veterans, and the results were far from impressive.
Ham played eight seasons in the NBA and won a championship with the Detroit Pistons in 2004. He also played for the Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, Washington Wizards, the Bucks, and the Hawks. Ham was never much of a scorer, but he could defend and was athletic.
Signing Ham is largely viewed as a good hire for the Lakers as he’s a young up-and-coming coach who will have the players’ respect. It will be challenging to deal with all the Lakers’ personalities, but his straightforward, no, BS approach could benefit Los Angeles in the coming seasons.
The critical task for Ham now is to assemble a solid coaching staff that will help him through the process of being a first time head coach. It will be an exciting offseason for the Lakers as this is likely only the first of several dominoes to fall in their retool.
-LaMarr Fields
Twitter: @raiderway83