Before taking over as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, Darvin Ham was a long time assistant under Mike Budenholzer first with the Atlanta Hawks and then moving with him to the Milwaukee Bucks in 2018. Ham was a key part of that coaching staff that helped the Bucks win the NBA Championship in 2021 and was beloved by the players there.
While head coaches leaving is often talked about, top assistants moving on isn’t discussed nearly as much. Having the right coaching staff does wonders and each coach has their own role and brings something different to the table. As far as Bucks reserve big Bobby Portis is concerned, they lost a lot when Ham left to come to Los Angeles.
With the Bucks being upset in the first round there has been a lot of talk on social media about roster changes that need to be made to that team. But Portis responded to the talks, saying that what really hurt the Bucks this season was Ham leaving to join the Lakers:
Lol they thinking this 2k. Only thing hurt us was D ham leaving. That ain’t talked about enough. https://t.co/6MbmVueZtC
— Bobby BP Portis (@BPortistime) May 17, 2023
Even though there have been some rough stretches, Ham has really grown throughout this first season with the Lakers. His positive energy is infectious and rubs off on the rest of the team, and he has a great relationship with the players, often being seen encouraging his guys even if they are struggling.
He surely played a similar role while in Milwaukee and having someone like that around can make such a difference in the locker room and be greatly missed once its gone. The Bucks players and coaches were universally happy for Ham to get this opportunity with the Lakers, but it was a loss for them at the same time.
The Bucks chose to part ways with Budenholzer following their first round exit in the playoffs this year and whoever takes over there would be wise to find someone who could have a similar impact as Ham clearly did in that locker room.
Austin Reaves credits Darvin Ham for staying positive amidst Lakers slow start
Darvin Ham’s attitude has been on full display since joining the Lakers and it was undoubtedly needed at the beginning of the season. Following the Lakers advancing to the Western Conference Finals, Austin Reaves had some great words for Ham and how he stayed positive even as the Lakers struggled early in the year.
“Obviously 2-10 isn’t fun, you always want to win, but as you said he always had a good attitude coming to work,” Reaves said after the Lakers defeated the Warriors. “He’s said many times we’re employed by the Lakers, the best organization in basketball, so as tough as it is on the court it could be way worse. So shoutout to him for sticking through it.
“It’s hard. You’re getting criticism from everybody, it’s his first year head coaching job so for him to stick with it and gut it out with us is special. You can’t say enough about him and like you said he was genuinely happy to be at work every day even when we were 2-10. And when you have energy like that, and consistently build good habits you wanna be around guys like that. So big shoutout to him.”
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