Darvin Ham: Los Angeles Lakers’ new head coach impresses in media unveiling as he outlines franchise turnaround plan | NBA News

Darvin Ham was the appointment committee’s unanimous choice to be the man tasked with turning around the Los Angeles Lakers’ fortunes. When you hear him speak, it’s easy to see why.

Few jobs in sports carry more pressure to deliver success than being head coach of the Lakers but despite being a rookie in the lead role, it’s easy to see why front office chief Rob Pelinka and, importantly, LeBron James – though he was not part of the committee involved in the decision – believe Ham is the man to restore the fortunes of a team which disappointed massively last season.

The team was rudderless (LeBron’s enduring brilliance aside) last season and needed a figurehead at the coaching position who has the strength of character to lead a group laden with NBA veterans and future Hall of Famers, including Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard, who are all past their prime but still more than capable of delivering better than the 33-49 record, which saw Los Angeles finish 11th in the Western Conference last year.

Ham, as he was introduced to the media, looked very much like he can be that person. He spoke with authority, character and enough humour to keep it light while not belying the steel that lurks underneath.

Having signed a four-year contract with the franchise, he is already moving quickly to finalise his coaching staff for the new season. In an interesting move, Ham has reached out to Rasheed Wallace, his team-mate on the 2004 NBA champion Detroit Pistons, to join his staff.

He has also made the decision to get rid of three key assistants: David Fizdale (the former Memphis Grizzlies and New York Knicks head coach), Mike Penberthy and John Lucas III will not be retained by the team.

The 48-year-old is wasting no time and he cannot afford to. Ham is expected to immediately return a veteran-laden, oddly constructed roster to championship contention. He must create a new philosophy and instil a team identity around 37-year-old LeBron James, oft-injured Anthony Davis and polarising guard Russell Westbrook, who does not appear to be going anywhere this summer.

That’s a daunting order for any coach, let alone a newcomer to the worldwide spotlight that illuminates every move by the 17-time NBA champion Lakers.

Ham though, who has interviewed for multiple head coaching positions in recent years, feels there is an element of serendipity that his first step has come with the Lakers, where he first served on a NBA staff as a development coach from 2011 to 2013.

“Timing. Timing is everything,” Ham said, before cracking a joke about the positions he had unsuccessfully interviewed for. “I just want to take this time to thank all those teams that passed on me so I could get back with Rob and the Buss family.

“I think [the] sky’s the limit. We’re not putting a ceiling on our situation. We’ll go as far as our daily preparation takes us and the things we’re going to do in that daily process will lead us to the type of success that this franchise and city has been accustomed to.”

How he will change Westbrook’s role

Russell Westbrook was joined by a few of the Lakers’ younger players – Austin Reaves, Stanley Johnson and Wenyen Gabriel – at the news conference. The roster fit with Westbrook was one of the key reasons identified for the Lakers’ struggles last year, but Ham insists the former MVP is going to have a massive role to play in the season ahead.

“Don’t get it messed up: Russell Westbrook is one of the best players our league has ever seen, and there’s still a ton left in the tank,” Ham said. “I don’t know why people tend to try to write him off.

“Russ and I had some really, really great one-on-one convos, man, and the biggest word I think that came out of that, those discussions, was ‘sacrifice,'” Ham said. “I’m going to expect him to be the same tenacious, high-energy player that he’s been all his entire career. A lot of that now may have him without the ball in his hand. Most of it now may have it on the defensive end. But again, we have to sacrifice. There’s no achieving anything without all parties sharing the load, sacrificing and depending on one another.”

“We’re going to sacrifice whatever we’ve got to do, and it’s not just Russ. It’s going to be sacrifices that LeBron has to make, that AD has to make, on down the line through the rest of our roster.”

Where Ham’s coaching focus will be

Ham is clear about the challenge ahead and already has zeroed on the key areas of focus for next season, and there is one area he sees room for improvement right away.

“Defensively is where you’re going to see our biggest leaps and bounds,” Ham said. “We have to commit to the defensive side of the ball or we don’t have a chance.”

They were 21st in defensive efficiency last season and even worse on the offensive side of the ball. Getting more out of Westbrook and Anthony Davis, who did not come close to hitting his best levels consistently last season, will be important in addressing the inefficiency.

One of the few positives for the Lakers, though, was the emergence of some of the younger players and that is another key area where Ham believe they can continue to grow. He also believes the team to improve as a whole to reduce the pressure on the less experienced members of the squad.

“My goal is [to] continue with the development of our younger players and make those guys comfortable where they’re not having to run to a telephone booth and put a cape on and try to save the day,” Ham said. “And if there’s mistakes made, I have to be able to coach those three guys like I do the rest of the roster.

“We have a saying, ‘Facts over feelings’, and once you see the film, that’s a fact. You missed your assignment, then that has to be pointed out. Because if I can’t point it out to one of our Big Three, then the last man or someone in the rotation, they’re not going to take what we’re doing seriously.”

Why Ham has the personality to succeed

The most memorable part of the interview came when Ham described his experience of getting shot in the face, and how that has helped gear how he approaches big challenges.

“I grew up in Saginaw, Michigan,” Ham said. “I was shot in the face by accident, April 5, 1988. You go through something like that, it’s going to do one of two things: It’s going to make you fearful or fearless. It made me fearless. I don’t feel no pressure. It’s basketball.”

Ham’s communication skills and leadership were among the assets that won him one of the highest-profile coaching jobs in North American sports. The former NBA role player also radiates a confident toughness that was immediately recognised by Lakers general manager Pelinka and the committee that selected him to take over for Frank Vogel, who was fired in April after Los Angeles missed the postseason.

Pelinka said Ham’s personality should help fill in an area in which the Lakers lagged behind, in his estimation, last season under coach Frank Vogel.

“I think one of the things we lacked last year was an identity of toughness,” Pelinka said, “and I think we are excited to see Coach with his leadership style will bring those attributes to our team next year.”

Ham carved out an eight-year playing career and even won a ring in Detroit by dedicating himself to a cerebral, complementary role. He was a natural for a coaching career, and he was on the Lakers’ staff as a development coach from 2011-13 before being hired by Mike Budenholzer in Atlanta.

They went together five years later to Milwaukee, where Ham won another championship as Budenholzer’s lead assistant in 2021. Ham only choked up once during his Lakers news conference, and it happened when he expressed gratitude for Budenholzer’s mentoring and friendship.

“As sad as it is for me to be leaving Coach Bud, sometimes you got to walk that walk on your own,” Ham said, getting choked up as he spoke about his former boss. “We went from colleagues to friends to brothers all the while making history.

“At least you dropped me off where you picked me up at,” he added, with a laugh.

His mixture of humour, grit and belief could mean the Lakers have the ideal man to ensure they bounce back with a vengeance.

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