It’s often said that NBA head coaches are hired only to be fired someday, and in Darvin Ham’s view, that cliché perfectly applies to his experience with the Los Angeles Lakers. After a short-lived tenure in L.A., Ham—now serving as an assistant coach with the Milwaukee Bucks—is reflecting on the circumstances surrounding his departure and how he feels things would have gone differently had he been at the helm of another franchise.
In a recent interview with Marc J. Spears of Andscape, Ham made it clear that he believes his performance warranted greater job security. Instead, despite a significant turnaround and postseason appearances, the Lakers let him go.
“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 Spears. “I’m not talking about feelings. I’m talking about actual facts. They go from not making it to the playoffs to reaching the conference finals. Then we won the in-season tournament, fought through all sorts of injuries, and even won both of our play-in games to get into the playoffs.”
Ham’s sense of being shortchanged isn’t entirely without merit. Critics frequently targeted his strategic adjustments and in-game decision-making, while a few within the Lakers’ circle questioned his commitment and work ethic.
Despite the noise, Ham remains convinced that much of this criticism was unwarranted. He points to the team’s records and achievements under his watch as evidence of his positive influence.
“I get it,” Ham said. “I understand that with this franchise, expectations are through the roof. Sometimes they can be unrealistic. When I was hired, the team had gone 33-49. I helped turn that around, got us to the Western Conference Finals. The next year we improved by 10 wins, going from 33 to 43 victories. Under my leadership, players got paid, we developed a bit of a core, and then we got hammered by the injury bug. I believe we were among the top five teams in games lost due to injuries.”
The numbers bear some of Ham’s claims out. Over his two seasons at the Lakers’ helm, he compiled a 90-74 record, led the team to the Western Conference Finals in 2022-23, and took them to the playoffs again the following year.
In that first deep postseason run, the Lakers fell to the eventual NBA champion Denver Nuggets. The next season, with a roster riddled by injuries, they still managed to return to the playoffs but once again found their journey cut short by the Nuggets, this time in the opening round.
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Multiple reports at the time suggested that Ham’s relationship with superstar LeBron James had deteriorated toward the end of his stint. In a league where transcendent players often hold sway over coaching decisions, that alleged tension may have been the death knell for Ham’s tenure.
Regardless of his on-court accomplishments, failing to align with the face of the franchise is often a fatal misstep.
The NBA is, after all, a superstar-driven enterprise. Coaches who lose the backing of an elite player, especially in a high-pressure market like Los Angeles, frequently find themselves on the chopping block regardless of their win-loss record.
For Ham, it’s a bitter pill to swallow. He firmly believes his performance should have spoken for itself, and that had he led a team with more tempered expectations, he’d likely be holding a long-term contract rather than reminiscing about what might have been.
As Ham now works behind the scenes in Milwaukee, helping the Bucks chase their own championship aspirations, he may have the last laugh.
Still relatively young for a coach and respected throughout the league, he could well earn another head coaching job down the line.
And should that opportunity arise, he’ll undoubtedly carry with him the lessons—hard-earned and painful—from his time guiding one of basketball’s most storied franchises under the unforgiving L.A. spotlight.
