Darvin Ham declined an offer to be Mike Budenholzer’s assistant coach with the Suns.
Darvin Ham has spent the previous two years coaching LeBron James, and it looks he has been given the opportunity to coach another all-time great recently. According to NBA insider Marc Stein, new Phoenix Suns head coach Mike Budenholzer approached Ham about joining his staff, but he declined.
“League sources say Budenholzer made a run at trying to convince Darvin Ham to join his staff in Phoenix, but Ham — fired as Lakers coach on May 3 — is said to have understandably passed after two exacting seasons in Lakerland,” Stein stated. “The Suns responded by asking David Fizdale, from Vogel’s staff, to stay on as an assistant coach on Budenholzer’s new staff after initially offering him a front office role.”
That’s an unusual turn of events. I’m sure being the head coach for LeBron and the Los Angeles Lakers would have taken a mental toll on Ham, but turning down this job is shocking.
Not only is he passing up the opportunity to coach Kevin Durant, but also to work with Budenholzer. Ham is very comfortable working with him, having been his assistant for nine seasons.
They originally worked together with the Atlanta Hawks in 2013, when Budenholzer took over as head coach. It was his first head coaching position in the NBA, and he hired Ham to join his staff. Neither would have realized it at the time, but it was the start of a long and fruitful collaboration.
Together, they led the Hawks to a franchise high 60 wins in the 2014-15 season, and the team advanced to the Conference Finals. However, the following years were not as successful, and Budenholzer and the franchise agreed to part ways in 2018.
He wouldn’t be without work for long, either, as the Milwaukee Bucks hired him less than a month later. Ham succeeded Budenholzer, and the two of them won the championship together in 2021.
A year after winning the title, Ham was named the Lakers’ head coach. After a rocky start, he guided the team to the Western Conference Finals, where they were swept by the Denver Nuggets.
Getting that far meant higher expectations for the following season, but the Lakers failed to meet them. They went 47-35 (after going 43-39 in 2022-23) and were eliminated by the Nuggets in five games, this time in the first round. That early exit cost Ham his job, but I believe he will return to coaching in the NBA in some position shortly.
The Warriors also spoke to Darvin Ham.
Budenholzer does not appear to have been the only person to contact Ham. According to The Athletic’s Anthony Slater, the Golden State Warriors also spoke with the 50-year-old.
“The Warriors had some conversation with former Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham in recent weeks, per league sources,” Slater stated. “That is not expected to happen. However, it demonstrates the Warriors’ intention to hire a well-known assistant, with hints that they are looking for either a previous head coach or a former player to fill the position.
Slater did not explain why it would not materialize. Perhaps Ham simply needs a break, or perhaps after being a head coach, he does not want to return to being an assistant.