Winner of the NBA Cup in 2023 with the Lakers, Darvin Ham made the double in 2024… but not with the Lakers. The man who is now Doc Rivers’ assistant in Milwaukee was fired by Los Angeles in the offseason, a dismissal that he still has difficulty understanding.
We imagine that Darvin Ham must have relished his second victory in the NBA Cup. Not only because it’s always nice to win a trophy. Not only because he was able to maintain his invincibility (14 victories in 14 games in the NBA Cup!). But probably also because it represents a great revenge on his former Lakers team.
UNDEFEATED. 14-0.
Darvin Ham & Taurean Prince are perfect through 2 years of #EmiratesNBACup action 💯 pic.twitter.com/ioRj8lQITU
— NBA (@NBA) December 18, 2024
A year ago, Darvin Ham won the NBA Cup with LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Co. Just a few months later, he was fired as coach of the Lakers after an elimination in the first round of the Playoffs. And obviously, it’s still difficult to get through.
“I swear to God, for everything good I did (in Los Angeles), anywhere else I probably would have gotten an extension with what I accomplished,” Ham said via Andscape.
“I’m not talking about feelings, I’m talking about real facts. The Lakers went from a team that didn’t make the Playoffs to the NBA’s Final Four, the Conference Finals. And then we won the In-season Tournament (NBA Cup), we overcame injuries to win our two play-in matches and participate in the Playoffs.”
In terms of results, Darvin Ham actually has some arguments to make, the Lakers eliminating Memphis and Golden State during the 2023 Playoffs to go as far as the Western Conference Finals, where they lost against the future champion (Denver). This assessment stands out all the more as the Lakers – now coached by JJ Redick – are having a very eventful start to the season this year (14 wins – 12 losses).
But what Darvin Ham doesn’t mention, and is probably the primary reason for his firing, is that he gradually lost the locker room over the course of last season. Some of his choices were contested, his adjustments (or rather lack of adjustments) were singled out, and we all remember this public statement from Anthony Davis after a loss in the Playoffs: “Sometimes you don’t know what you’re doing on both ends of the court.”
It’s complicated to survive all that when you’re a coach, especially in Los Angeles.
Darvin Ham goes at the Lakers… my goodness:
“To do as well as I did… I swear to God, anywhere else I’m probably looking at an extension. I’m not talking feelings, just facts. They go from not making the playoffs to the Conference Finals, and we won the in-season tournament…… pic.twitter.com/WMERa90saB
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) December 18, 2024
Darvin Ham understood that coaching with the Lakers is different from coaching anywhere else. If he is far from being the only one responsible for the premature elimination of Los Angeles last year and he had mitigating circumstances, it is he who paid the price, like Frank Vogel before him.
Source texte : Andscape
