Lakers News: Darvin Ham And Mike Budenholzer Reunite On Opposite Sides Of The Hardwood
First-year Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham met up courtside with his longtime boss, Milwaukee Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer, prior to the Lakers' best victory of the 2022-23 season so far.
Ham served as a longtime assistant coach under Budenholzer, during his stints with the Atlanta Hawks and the Bucks, from 2013-2022.
Those sharpshooting, Spurs-ian Atlanta clubs never quite got to the finish line, but they did make several deep playoff runs, including to the 2015 Eastern Conference Finals, where were swept by LeBron James's Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Bucks, led by two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, fared better. The team went to the Eastern Conference Finals during Budenholzer and Ham's first season with the franchise, 2018-19, and won the whole darn thing in 2021.
Last night. in something of a shock, Ham's 9-12 Lakers upset Budenholzer's 15-6 Bucks in a hard-fought 133-129 road victory, mostly behind the unreal play of the team's Big Three of Anthony Davis, LeBron James, and Russell Westbrook, who combined for 87 points and zero turnovers. The Bucks, playing at home and with their own Big Three of Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton newly available (Middleton had missed the team's first 20 games while recovering from an offseason wrist surgery), opened the game as 8.5 point favorites to win, per most Vegas oddsmakers.
L.A. will get its next chance at an unexpected road triumph in a Washington D.C. matinee tomorrow against old friend Kyle Kuzma and his surging Washington Wizards, who are currently mere percentage points better than the team with an 11-12 record thanks to two straight losses. If Ham continues to get the best out of his team by surrounding Davis, James and to a lesser extent Westbrook with teammates who make sense (generally floor-spacers and/or athletes), perhaps the team's six-game road trip can continue to surprise fans.
