It’s been seven months since the Lakers fired Darvin Ham, and he’s still surprised he’s no longer coaching the team.
Ham, who was 90-74 in two seasons in Los Angeles, took the Lakers to the Western Conference finals in his first year and back to the playoffs the following year, while leading them to victory in the first NBA Cup Season Tournament. the road.
And then he was let go in May, days after the Denver Nuggets eliminated the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs.
“To do as well as I did, I swear to God, I’ll probably look elsewhere for an extension of what I did,” Ham told Andscape on Tuesday.
Now an assistant coach with the Milwaukee Bucks, Ham improved to 14-0 in NBA Cup play later that night as the Bucks defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder to win this year’s regular-season tournament.
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Ham was hired by the Lakers as their first head coach in 2022, after 11 years as an assistant with the Lakers, Atlanta Hawks and Bucks. Despite everything the Lakers accomplished during Ham’s tenure, it’s hard to imagine too many people in LA would be surprised by his firing.
A number of fans have been calling for Ham’s removal on social media for some time. And reports had emerged that some of Ham’s line-up decisions and in-match adjustments were a source of frustration in the dressing room.
Still, Ham told Andscape he was “extremely disappointed and perplexed” when he was fired after the Lakers were eliminated from the postseason by the Nuggets for the second straight season.
“I’m not talking about feelings. I’m talking about actual facts,” Ham said. “They go from not making the playoffs to the final four in the NBA, the conference finals. And then you win the season tournament, navigate all the injuries and win both play-in games to reach the playoffs.”
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He had much more to say on the matter:
– “You feel like you’ve done enough to last in one place. I felt like I did that.”
– “It is reported as if I throw a few setups against the wall to see what sticks. No man, we were really navigating a lot, from guys getting hurt to having the oldest player in the league [LeBron James] navigating [Anthony Davis’] injury history. It was a lot.”
– “Some of the s— that came out? Wow, buddy, I don’t know the X’s and O’s? I was winging it. Dude, that was the most disappointing stuff, how mean and so many things people say online.
Ham also told Andscape that he has not had any significant contact with James or Davis since leaving LA
“I haven’t talked to anyone,” Ham said. “When we played them in preseason I said hello to a few of the guys. Jaxson [Hayes]Crest [Reddish]D-Lo [D’Angelo Russell]Gabe [Vincent]. But not really, dude. “Lebron ran by the bench and we made small talk.”
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The Lakers are 14-12 and ranked 10th in the West under Ham’s replacement, first-year coach JJ Redick. They were 15-11 and tied for eighth in the conference last year, although they lost eight of their next 10 games and fell to 11th.
“There’s no ill will toward me,” said Ham, whose Bucks are 14-11 and fifth in the Eastern Conference. “Their situation is what it is.”
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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
