{"id":100767,"date":"2024-10-12T08:00:45","date_gmt":"2024-10-12T12:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=100767"},"modified":"2024-10-12T02:15:48","modified_gmt":"2024-10-12T06:15:48","slug":"darvin-ham-breaks-silence-on-lakers-tenure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/10\/12\/darvin-ham-breaks-silence-on-lakers-tenure\/","title":{"rendered":"Darvin Ham Breaks Silence on Lakers Tenure"},"content":{"rendered":"

Five months after the Los Angeles Lakers <\/span>fired Darvin Ham<\/span><\/a>, the current Bucks assistant has made his first comments on the matter in an interview with ESPN. The quotes came Thursday after LA\u2019s 107-102 comeback win over Milwaukee, a clash between familiar faces on both sidelines.<\/span><\/p>\n

Darvin Ham Breaks Silence on Lakers Tenure<\/b><\/h2>\n

Ham\u2019s Comments<\/b><\/h3>\n

Ham reflected on a tumultuous tenure with the purple and gold. While he finished with a 90-74 record across two seasons, each campaign could not have gone any different\u2014from a Western Conference Finals berth in 2023 to a first-round exit in 2024. Ham told <\/span>ESPN staff writer Dave McMenamin<\/span><\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n

“The state of the team when they hired me, up until the day they fired me, I like to think it improved. And that’s all I care about. I poured myself, my heart and soul, into that team trying to improve it from where it was — 33-49. And to get to the Western Conference finals in one year, have guys benefit from it financially. To have that excitement going into that next year, get derailed by injuries, still manage to win the in-season tournament and get to the playoffs, I thank God every day.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Again, I’m completely grateful. I wish that franchise nothing but the best. I’m not mean or angry or bitter about anything. Some people have certain opinions and those are opinions, but if you really look at the facts, there’s not much for me personally I have to say. So, that’s it.”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A month after his firing, Ham returned to the Milwaukee Bucks, where he served as an assistant from 2018-22 before joining the Lakers. Bucks head coach Doc Rivers\u00a0<\/span>stood up for the Lakers\u2019 former leader<\/span><\/a> when discussing Ham\u2019s second stint in Milwaukee.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been great. First of all, he\u2019s been here even longer than me. He knows things that I didn\u2019t know. He has relationships with the players. Another guy that [I] can trust. Trust is so important for players. And more importantly, he deserves it. I\u2019m not going to get into the whole thing that happened there, but he took a team to a Western Finals, and then the following year, he won the in-season tournament, which they say we should have a lot of value on, and then they release him. It literally makes no sense, but it happens. It happens to all of us. It\u2019s part of what we do. But Darvin Ham\u2019s a coach, he should be on the sidelines, and I wanted him next to me.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Lakers Players Tell a Different Story<\/b><\/h3>\n

Despite Ham\u2019s successes in his first head coaching gig, many point to glaring failures that emerged over the course of his time in LA, from mismatched rotations and a lack of execution to eventually <\/span>losing the locker room by the start of the new year<\/span><\/a>. It\u2019s not just fans who noticed it, either, as <\/span>some players<\/span><\/a> appeared to take shots at their former coach during media day.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

D'Angelo Russell said the Lakers have been kinda "winging it" since his return to the organization and he mentioned more structure being around this summer.<\/p>\n

— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) September 30, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n