When the Lakers began their head coaching search this summer, they made it known that they would prefer a candidate that not only can command the locker room, but also one who had ties to the purple and gold. Considering how fully he checked both boxes, it wasn’t entirely shocking to see how quickly the Lakers fell for Darvin Ham, who commenced his NBA coaching career back in 2011 with the team.
Despite leaving in 2013, when then Atlanta Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer handpicked Ham to be part of his staff, Ham retained a connection to the Lakers.