Darvin Ham Admits Past Mistake During Lakers Tenure

The Darvin Ham era in Los Angeles is over but the fallout is continuing. The Lakers parted ways with Ham this offseason after a first-round exit, replacing him with first-time head coach JJ Redick.

On paper, Ham wasn't unsuccessful. He took the Lakers to a conference finals and the first round, losing to a better Nuggets side on both occasions. The rosters around LeBron James and Anthony Davis have been less than ideal, making it hard for any coach to do a better job than Ham.

That doesn't mean, however, that Ham didn't make any mistakes. In fact, former Laker Patrick Beverley just recounted a story where the 50-year-old coach did exactly that. According to Beverley, the former Lakers head coach approached him in Las Vegas and told him he was right. Pat Bev allegedly has been asking Ham to have more practices and not count on the talent alone.

Darvin Ham Admits Lakers Mistake to Patrick Beverley

In Ham's defense, it is difficult to practice a lot in the NBA. The regular season is grueling and the teams are constantly traveling. There isn't much time to build continuity in practices, so teams use the regular season to do that. Beverley, a veteran known for his intensity, probably wanted more practices but perhaps it wasn't feasible for the Lakers to do so.

We will never know if practicing more would have helped. The Lakers had ill-fitting rosters that didn't have enough shooting or defense around LeBron and AD. That likely was a bigger problem than anything else.

Ham joined Doc Rivers' coaching staff in Milwaukee this offseason. He had been the assistant coach there for four seasons before joining the Lakers in 2022. He will try to revive his career and land another head coaching gig soon.

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