After unceremoniously firing Frank Vogel at the end of last season, the Los Angeles Lakers are on the hunt for a new head coach. They’ll be looking to make it back to the mountain top after a disappointing season last year.
Their duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis has already proven to be championship-caliber, and now it’s up to management to put the best-possible cast around them.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN and Shams Charania of The Athletic, three candidates have emerged as the finalists for the Lakers coaching job – Milwaukee Bucks assistant Darvin Ham, former Portland Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts, and Golden State Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson.
Why Darvin Ham is the favorite for the Los Angeles Lakers job
While both Stotts and Atkinson have prior head-coaching experience, Ham has never led a team on his own. Despite this, Ham may be the obvious choice for the job.
Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report reported that Ham is “the guy LeBron wants.” With James getting set to lead the franchise for another season, keeping him happy should be the organization’s top priority.
Ham has prior experience in Los Angeles, too. The 48-year-old was an assistant coach for the Lakers for two seasons from 2011 to 2013, which were his first two years as an NBA coach.
The Lakers made the playoffs in both of Ham’s seasons there, and since then, Ham has found even more success in reaching the postseason as an assistant coach for the Atlanta Hawks and Bucks.
He was on Mike Budenholzer’s staff in Atlanta from 2013 to 2018 and then made the move to Milwaukee with him when he landed the head-coaching job there.
Throughout the course of his coaching career, Ham has only missed the playoffs one time. And while there’s no guarantee he’d continue that with the Lakers, it’s clear that James believes in him.
So, with the backing of the King, Ham seems like the most obvious option to take over as the next coach of the Lakers. And in reality, is there anything that matters more than James’ approval?