It’s been seven months since the Lakers fired Darvin Ham, and he’s still surprised he’s no longer coaching the team.
Ham, who was 90-74 in two seasons in Los Angeles, took the Lakers to the Western Conference finals in his first year and back to the playoffs the following year, while guiding them to victory in the inaugural NBA Cup in-season tournament along the way.
And then he was let go in May, days after the Denver Nuggets eliminated the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs.
“To do as well as I did, I swear to God, anywhere else I’m probably looking at an extension with what I did,” Ham told Andscape on Tuesday.
Now an assistant coach with the Milwaukee Bucks, Ham improved to 14-0 in NBA Cup games later that night when the Bucks defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder to win this year’s in-season tournament.
Ham was hired by the Lakers as a first-time head coach in 2022, after 11 years as an assistant with the Lakers, Atlanta Hawks and Bucks. Despite everything the Lakers accomplished during Ham’s tenure, it’s difficult to imagine too many people in L.A. being surprised by his dismissal.
A number of fans had been calling for Ham’s ousting on social media for some time. And reports had surfaced that some of Ham’s lineup decisions and in-game adjustments were a source of frustration in the locker room.
Still, Ham told Andscape he was “extremely disappointed and perplexed” when he was fired after the Lakers were eliminated by the Nuggets in the postseason for the second straight season.
“I’m not talking about feelings. I’m talking actual facts,” Ham said. “They go from not making it to the playoffs to the final four in the NBA, the conference finals. And then you win the in-season tournament, navigate through all the injuries and win both of your play-in games to get to the playoffs.”
He had plenty more to say on the matter:
— “You feel like you did enough to sustain in one spot. I felt like I did that.”
— “It’s being reported like I’m just throwing some lineups up against the wall to see what sticks. No, man, we were really navigating a lot from guys being hurt to having the oldest player in the league [LeBron James] to navigating [Anthony Davis’] injury history. It was a lot.”
— “Some of the s— that was coming out? Wow, bro, I don’t know X’s and O’s? I was winging it. Dude, that was the most disappointing stuff, how mean and so much stuff people are saying online.”
Ham also told Andscape that he hasn’t had any significant contact with James or Davis since he left L.A.
“I haven’t talked to anybody,” Ham said. “When we played them in the preseason, I said hello to a couple of guys. Jaxson [Hayes], Cam [Reddish], D-Lo [D’Angelo Russell], Gabe [Vincent]. But not really, man. LeBron ran past the bench and we had a little bit of small talk.”
The Lakers are 14-12 and in 10th place in the West under Ham’s replacement, first-year coach JJ Redick. They were 15-11 and tied for eighth in the conference at this point last year, although they went on to lose eight of their next 10 games and drop to 11th place.
“There is no ill will for me,” said Ham, whose Bucks are 14-11 and in fifth place in the Eastern Conference. “Their situation is what it is.”
