Doc Rivers slammed the LA Lakers for firing now Bucks’ assistant Darvin Ham this offseason ahead of LeBron James and Co.’s visit to Milwaukee on Thursday. The Bucks coach doesn’t think it made sense as he viewed Ham’s tenure in LA as a success. Rivers cited the Lakers’ making the Western Conference finals in Ham’s rookie year and winning the NBA In-Season Tournament this past season.
The 2008 championship-winning coach doubled down on Ham’s potential, suggesting that he deserves to be on the sidelines and coach.
The Lakers fired Ham on May 3rd after the team failed to get past the first round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs, losing 4-1 to the Denver Nuggets. The Bucks hired him on June 11 as a top assistant.LA failed to break into the top six for the third consecutive year and second under Ham, despite making decent additions to bolster the team’s growth. He also lost the locker room because of his stubbornness and bias towards players he had coached before. Ham’s lack of in-game adjustments and lack of a detail-oriented approach also led to his firing.
Things turned sour publicly towards the end when Darvin Ham openly disagreed with his star player, Anthony Davis, questioning the team’s organization and schemes amid their first-round series against Denver.
