As the Lakers’ search for their next head coach continues, their former coach has found a new job.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski first reported on Monday that Darvin Ham will join Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers’ staff as the team’s top assistant.
Ham was an assistant in Milwaukee under Mike Budenholzer from 2018-22, including the 2021 NBA championship-winning Bucks team, before taking over the Lakers’ coaching reins in 2022.
Budenholzer, who now coaches the Suns, reportedly wanted Ham to join his coaching staff in Phoenix but Ham passed on the opportunity. Ham was also an assistant on Budenholzer’s Atlanta Hawks coaching staff from 2013-18.
The Golden State Warriors also had conversations with Ham, The Athletic reported last month.
The Lakers fired Ham on May 3 after two seasons.
Ham finished his Lakers tenure with a 90-74 regular-season record and a 9-12 playoff record, with the Lakers making the postseason in both seasons, including going to the 2023 Western Conference finals.
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The Nuggets swept the Lakers in the aforementioned conference finals before beating the Lakers again in five games this spring in the playoffs’ first round.
The Lakers’ month-long-plus coaching search took a significant turn when it was reported late last week that the organization was targeting UConn men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley for their coaching vacancy.
Despite the Lakers reportedly offering Hurley a six-year, $70 million contract that would have made him one of the NBA’s highest-paid coaches, Hurley on Monday decided to stay with the Huskies, who have the opportunity to become the first program since UCLA to three-peat when Coach John Wooden’s Bruins won seven consecutive national titles from 1967-73.