Nine years after Darvin Ham ended his two-year run as the Los Angeles Lakers’ assistant, the 48-year-old begins assembling his own staff having been named the franchise’s new head coach.
During his introductory press conference, Ham said the reunion feels like a “homecoming.” The 2004 NBA champion served as Mike Brown and Mike D’Antoni’s assistant between 2011-2013 before Mike Budenholzer took him under his wing on the Atlanta Hawks and the Milwaukee Bucks.
As he now looks to build his coaching staff in L.A., Ham said he’s looking for candidates who can show initiative and wear many hats.
“Me personally, I shared this with Rob and Kurt and everybody that was on the basketball committee during the interview process, I like coaches that like to roll up their sleeves and be able to get out there,” he said.
“Where I come from the last nine years, we did everything. We did player development, we did scouting, I had to step in as the head coach on a few occasions, but it was a team. It wasn’t no coordinators on either side of the ball, we all pitched in on all aspects of our team basketball, offensively and defensively. So I’m looking to build that similar type of staff.”
Rasheed Wallace has reportedly been “identified” as a candidate to join Ham’s coaching staff. Ham confirmed the Lakers’ interest in his former Detroit Pistons teammate, although he added Wallace has not been offered the job yet.
“In regards to Rasheed, that’s an active situation. That’s fluid,” Ham said. “We’re still working through that. That’s not true at all, but he’s definitely a candidate that we’ll take a look at. But we’re working through that. We have a list of names and some people that’s currently under contract.
“We’re working with some very talented young coaches and we’re working through that to try to put together the best staff possible.”
While there is not a done deal yet with Wallace, it seems that Ham is moving quickly to assemble his staff. According to a recent report, he has already told a trio of Lakers assistants in Davide Fizdale, Mike Penberthy and John Lucas III that he will not be retaining them. Additionally, Phil Handy and Quinton Crawford are expected to remain on staff.
Ham ‘not putting ceiling’ on Lakers
Ham said L.A. can return to winning days if the team puts in the necessary effort on a daily basis.
“We’re not putting a ceiling on our situation. And we go as far as our daily preparation takes us, Ham said.
“You hit people, well, are they going to do this? Are they going to do that we’re going to get better every day? That’s what we’re going to do. And the things we’re going to do in that daily process will lead us to will lead to the type of success this franchise and this city has been accustomed to.
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