Darvin Ham will no longer be the Los Angeles Lakers head coach next season, the team announced Friday. That means if LeBron James decides to stay, he’ll have a new coach for the fourth time in LA.
Ham has been the third head coach James worked with since joining the purple and gold in 2018. His first boss in Los Angeles was Luke Walton, who was already in California when The King signed for the storied franchise.
Walton had been at the helm of the Lakers since 2016, but lost the job after failing to make the playoffs in LeBron’s first year with the team. In 2019, the organization handed the reins to Frank Vogel.
This hire turned out to help James win his first and so far only NBA championship with the purple and gold, as the Lakers emerged victorious in the 2020 Orlando bubble under Vogel’s watch.
However, the next two seasons left much to be desired. After a first-round exit at the hands of the Suns in the 2021 NBA playoffs, Vogel failed to make the postseason the following year and therefore got fired.
Lakers hired Ham aiming to help LeBron, but it didn’t work
In the wake of Vogel’s firing, the Lakers turned to Ham in the summer of 2022 hoping to maximize their championship window with LeBron and Anthony Davis before it was too late.
Having previously served as an assistant for the Milwaukee Bucks, Ham signed a four-year deal with the Lakers on a reported $5 million-a-year salary, aiming to take the franchise back to the top.
Following a weak start to the season, the moves made by Rob Pelinka at the February trade deadline saw the Lakers have an impressive resurgence in the second half of the season to make the playoffs.
Ham’s team went on to have a deep run, making it all the way to the Conference Finals. However, a sweep by the Nuggets handed LA a reality check, one that the rookie HC couldn’t leave behind in his second year.
Even with LeBron still at his best at 39, Ham couldn’t do better than a 7th place finish thanks to the Play-In before losing to Denver in five games in the first round of this year’s playoff. Now, the Lakers are starting a new era with a new head coach, hoping to count on James.
How many coaches has LeBron James played for throughout his career?
LeBron James has so far played for nine different coaches throughout his fantastic career during his time with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers.
- Paul Silas (2003-05)
- Brendan Malone (2005) – interim
- Mike Brown (2005-10)
- Erik Spoelstra (2010-14)
- David Blatt (2014-16)
- Tyronn Lue (2016-18)
- Luke Walton (2018-19)
- Frank Vogel (2019-22)
- Darvin Ham (2022-24)
Lakers coaches by year: How many coaches has LA had throughout history?
Darvin Ham was the 28th coach in Los Angeles Lakers history. These are all the coaches who have led the team at some point, some of them in more than one stint:
- John Kundla – 1948–1958, 1958–1959
- George Mikan – 1958
- John Castellani – 1959–1960
- Jim Pollard – 1960
- Fred Schaus – 1960–1967
- Butch van Breda Kolff – 1967–1969
- Joe Mullaney – 1969–1971
- Bill Sharman – 1971–1976
- Jerry West – 1976–1979
- Jack McKinney – 1979
- Paul Westhead – 1979–1981
- Pat Riley – 1981–1990
- Mike Dunleavy – 1990–1992
- Randy Pfund – 1992–1994
- Bill Bertka – 1994; 1999
- Magic Johnson – 1994
- Del Harris – 1994–1999
- Kurt Rambis – 1999
- Phil Jackson – 1999–2004; 2005–2011
- Rudy Tomjanovich – 2004–2005
- Frank Hamblen – 2005
- Mike Brown – 2011–2012
- Bernie Bickerstaff – 2012
- Mike D’Antoni – 2012–2014
- Byron Scott – 2014–2016
- Luke Walton – 2016–2019
- Frank Vogel – 2019–2022
- Darvin Ham – 2022–2024
