Darvin Ham, fresh off second NBA Cup title, says Lakers firing was ’crazy’

One of the more curious stats from the NBA Cup is Bucks assistant coach Darvin Ham's success in the tournament.

After winning the inaugural championship last season as the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, Ham is now 14-0 in NBA Cup games. And, after Milwaukee topped the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night in a dominant performance, Ham reflected on the circumstances surrounding the end of his tenure with the Lakers, who fired him in May after two seasons.

“To do as well as I did, I swear to God, anywhere else I’m probably looking at an extension with what I did,” Ham said Tuesday night in an interview with Andscape. “I’m not talking about feelings. I’m talking actual facts. They go from not making it to the playoffs to the final four in the NBA, the conference finals. And then you win the in-season tournament, navigate through all the injuries and win both of your play-in games to get to the playoffs.

“People always talk about us losing to Denver, but they never talk about how we got to Denver. We beat a kick-ass young squad in Memphis and we beat Golden State.”

Ham added that he was “disappointed” in the team's decision to fire him and that it was “crazy” he didn't get more time to develop in the role.

In a May 3 statement that announced Ham's dismissal, Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka said it was “a difficult decision to make” but that it was “the best course of action following a full review of the season.”

Just one month after the Lakers fired Ham, the Bucks opted to bring him onto coach Doc Rivers' staff as an assistant; before joining the Lakers, Ham had served as an assistant in Milwaukee from 2018-22 under former coach Mike Budenholzer.

“I’m not a mudslinger and I’m not going to wait until I’m 51 to become one,” Ham told Andscape. “You feel like you did enough to sustain in one spot. I felt like I did that. I get it. The franchise I’m working for, the expectations can be unrealistic at certain points in time.”

One of the primary criticisms Ham faced was his management of Los Angeles' lineups and rotations.

“It’s being reported like I’m just throwing some lineups up against the wall to see what sticks. No man, we were really navigating a lot from guys being hurt to having the oldest player in the league (LeBron James) to navigating (Anthony Davis') injury history. It was a lot.

“Some of the (expletive) that was coming out?” Ham continued. “Wow, bro ‘I don’t know X’s and O’s? I was winging it.’ Dude, that was the most disappointing stuff, how mean and so much stuff people are saying online. The best thing I could do was block out the outside noise.”

Ham went 90-74 (.549) in his two seasons in Los Angeles. In his place, the Lakers hired former NBA player and ESPN analyst JJ Reddick. The Lakers started hot this season under Reddick but have lost eight of their past 12 games.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ex-Lakers coach says firing was ’crazy,’ expected more time