Former Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham is reportedly one of the leading candidates to fill the New Orleans Pelicans coaching vacancy.
According to NBA insider Marc Stein, Ham is a “name to watch” as the Pelicans search the league for a replacement for axed head coach Willie Green.
“Bucks assistant coach Darvin Ham, I’m told, is a name to watch in the Pelicans’ search,” Stein wrote in his Sunday newsletter.
“My former ESPN teammate Ian Begley reported this week that former UConn coach and Nets interim coach Kevin Ollie — long admired by Dumars’ top aide Troy Weaver — is another potential candidate,” added Stein.
James Borrego was elevated to the role of the Pelicans’ interim head coach after the franchise fired Green on Saturday. Interestingly, the Pelicans denied Borrego permission to interview for other assistant coaching jobs during the offseason, as they viewed him as a fail-safe option to succeed Green.
Ham’s Tumultuous Lakers Stint
Although Ham led the Lakers to the Western Conference Finals in 2023, his stint as the team’s head coach was not viewed as a success by the franchise or analysts.
Under Ham, the Lakers maintained a 90-74 record (.549) over two years (2022-23 and 2023-24) in the regular season and a 9-12 record (.429) in the postseason.
Furthermore, several Lakers publicly criticized Ham’s coaching techniques, with Anthony Davis and D’Angelo Russell being the most vocal among them. Davis infamously said during the 2024 playoffs — when the Lakers lost 4-1 to the Denver Nuggets — that the team was lost with their offensive and defensive schemes.
“We have stretches where we don’t know what we’re doing on both ends of the floor,” Davis said, sparking a major controversy.
Lakers Were Unhappy with Ham
Shortly after Ham was fired, several insiders reported that the Lakers had decided on a coaching change even before the 2024 playoffs ended. The Athletic’s Sam Amick reported that Davis’ frustrations with Ham led a role in the Lakers firing the coach.
“When they chose to fire Darvin Ham, I was told that one of the many, many considerations was that it was pretty evident that AD was not on board anymore with Darvin and they know, like everybody else, that AD has a history of having asked for trades in the past,” Amick told “The Rich Eisen Show,” via LakersNation.
“That’s how he got to the Lakers from New Orleans. Last thing they wanted was for AD to be frustrated with the situation and maybe have those types of thoughts cross his mind.”
JJ Redick was appointed as Ham’s successor before the 2024-25 season, a decision that has paid off handsomely for the Lakers. Under Redick, the Lakers have won .625 of their games, going 50-32 in 2024-25 and 10-4 in 2025-26 (thus far).
As for Ham, he has served as an assistant coach on Doc Rivers’ staff with the Milwaukee Bucks since the start of the 2024-25 season.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Controversial Ex-Lakers Coach ‘Name to Watch’ for Pelicans Job appeared first on Heavy Sports.