Ex-Lakers head coach Darvin Ham rejoining Bucks as top assistant

National Basketball Association

Updated Jun. 10, 2024 2:26 p.m. ET

Former Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham has rejoined the Milwaukee Bucks as their top assistant to Doc Rivers, according to a report by ESPN.

Ham spent the past two seasons with Los Angeles, sporting a 90-74 regular season record, while taking the LeBron James, Anthony Davis & Co. to the Western Conference finals in his first season at the helm. He was fired in May after the Lakers lost their matchup with the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the 2023-24 playoffs. The Nuggets also swept the Lakers in last year’s Western Conference finals.

Ham, 50, returns to the place where he won the 2021 NBA Championship as an assistant to then-Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer. He had previous assistant coaching stops in Atlanta and Los Angeles.

Ham was a sought-after assistant coaching candidate this spring, according to ESPN, but chose to reunite with Milwaukee and superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo instead of rejoining with Budenholzer, who took over as the Phoenix Suns‘ head coach earlier this offseason.

The Bucks, who were limited by injuries to Antetokounmpo and co-star Damian Lillard, were eliminated by the Indiana Pacers in six games in the first round of the playoffs.

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