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After being fired by the Los Angeles Lakers, former head coach Darvin Ham reportedly had the opportunity to join the staff of another Western Conference contender.
According to NBA insider Marc Stein, Mike Budenholzer “made a run at trying to convince” Ham to join his staff after he was hired as head coach of the Phoenix Suns last month, but Ham “understandably passed after two exacting seasons in Lakerland.”
After Ham turned down Budenholzer’s offer, Stein noted that the Suns “responded by asking David Fizdale, from [Frank] Vogel’s staff, to stay on as an assistant coach on Budenholzer’s new staff after initially offering him a front office role.”
Ham was a longtime assistant under Budenholzer, first joining his staff with the Atlanta Hawks in 2013 and then following him to the Milwaukee Bucks in 2018. The two of them helped the Bucks win their first NBA championship in 50 years in 2021, and the Lakers hired Ham as their head coach a year later.
After a promising 2022-23 season that ended with a trip to the Western Conference Finals, Ham endured a trying year in Los Angeles in 2023-24 that was filled with highs and lows. The Lakers won the inaugural In-Season Tournament championship but struggled to find consistency over the second half of the season on their way to finishing with a 47-35 record and losing to the Denver Nuggets in five games in the first round of the playoffs.
Ham dealt with criticism throughout the year for his decision-making and apparent struggles to galvanize a veteran-laden roster led by LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The Lakers fired him a month ago and have yet to find his replacement.
It would be understandable if Ham is content with stepping away for a bit after his tumultuous run in Los Angeles.