New Lakers Coach Darvin Ham Once Played For The Magic

The Lakers hired Ham Friday night as their new head coach.

Author:
Jeremy Brener
Publish date:
May 28, 2022 12:05 PM EDT

ORLANDO -- New Los Angeles Lakers coach Darvin Ham has two distinct moments in his career that most basketball fans would know him by.

Darvin Ham

Back in college at Texas Tech, Ham led the Red Raiders to the first Sweet 16 in school history and pulled off a backboard-shattering dunk that landed him on the magazine cover of Sports Illustrated in 1996.

Then, in 2004, he was a role player for the NBA champion Detroit Pistons, the first championship of his career.

But not many remember his playing days with the Orlando Magic.

Even though Ham played his final NBA game in 2005, he tried to make a comeback to the league by playing in the Pepsi Pro Summer League with the Magic in 2006. Ham, who was 33 at the time, was brought in to mentor some of the young Magic prospects and give him his veteran knowledge.

Perhaps that experience down in Orlando has led him to where he is today.

After a few years attempting to build a career overseas and in the D-League (now the G-League), Ham became an assistant coach with the Albuquerque Thunderbirds (now the Cleveland Charge). After two years as an assistant, Ham became the head coach for the 2010-11 season.

Then, the NBA came back calling and he was offered an assistant coach position with the Lakers on Mike Brown's staff.

After two years in Los Angeles, Ham departed for Atlanta to become apart of Mike Budenholzer's staff with the Hawks.

Since 2013, Ham has grown into his position with the Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks, ultimately winning his second NBA championship in 2021.