Former Lakers head coach Darvin Ham popped off on his old team.
Ham, now an assistant coach with the Bucks, spoke with Andscape ahead of the team’s NBA Cup championship win in Las Vegas on Tuesday, pushing back on some of the narratives that came out during his final weeks as Lakers coach.
Los Angeles fired Ham on May 3, eventually replacing him with JJ Redick.
Ham led the Lakers to a 90-74 record over his two seasons on the job, guiding them to a Western Conference Finals appearance in 2023.
But a quick exit in the first round of the playoffs last season was the final straw after questions arose over Ham’s decision-making, lineups, rotations and tactics.
“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 the outlet. “I’m not talking about feelings. I’m talking actual facts. 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.
“People always talk about us losing to Denver, but they never talk about how we got to Denver. We beat a kick-ass young squad in Memphis and we beat Golden State.”
Ham told Andscape that injuries played a part in what went wrong in 2023-24, but he felt that he had created “a little bit of a core.”
“It’s being reported like I’m just throwing some lineups up against the wall to see what sticks,” Ham said. “No man, we were really navigating a lot from guys being hurt to having the oldest player in the league [James] to navigating A.D.’s injury history. It was a lot.”
He added: “Some of the s–t 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. The best thing I could do was block out the outside noise.”
The Lakers are sitting in 10th place in the Western Conference with a 14-12 record under Redick.
Milwaukee is 14-11 and in fifth in the East.
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