The writing had been on the wall over the last few days, but the Los Angeles Lakers finally made it official on Friday when they fired head coach Darvin Ham.
Ham was the head coach of the Lakers for two seasons, earning the seventh seed in the West both times before losing to the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals and first round, respectively.
While those aren’t bad results for most organizations, the Lakers are in the business of winning championships. Couple that with the reported disconnect between Ham and his players, and a change was clearly needed.
It appears the Lakers will be making a full change to their coaching staff as they have fired all of their assistants too, per Dan Woike of the L.A. Times:
Sources: In addition to Darvin Ham, the Lakers have fired the entire assistant coaching staff, cleaning the slate for its next coach.
— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) May 3, 2024
The members of Ham’s staff that have been let go include Phil Handy, Chris Jent, Jordan Ott, JD Dubois, Schuyler Rimmer, Zach Peterson and DeMarre Carroll.
This is standard procedure for most organizations when they fire a head coach as they typically allow the new head coach to choose his own staff. When the Lakers hired Ham, the only assistant they retained from Frank Vogel’s staff was Handy.
While it is unfortunate to see Handy and others be let go, this allows them to pursue other opportunities around the league. Handy, in particular, has been vocal about wanting to be a head coach in the NBA and now maybe he will get that chance.
Depending on who the Lakers hire to be their next head coach, it is always possible that person is close with Handy or one of the other assistants and decides to bring them back.
Rob Pelinka releases statement after Lakers fire Darvin Ham
When the Lakers made the announcement that they have fired Darvin Ham, Rob Pelinka released a statement thanking him for his contributions and wishing him luck in the future.
“We greatly appreciate Darvin’s efforts on behalf of the Lakers and recognize the many accomplishments achieved over the past two seasons including last year’s remarkable run to the Western Conference finals,” Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka said in a statement released by the team. “We all want to thank Darvin for his dedication and positivity. While this was a difficult decision to make, it is the best course of action following a full review of the season. This organization will remain unwavering in its commitment to deliver championship-caliber basketball to Lakers fans around the world.”
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