Thursday’s preseason matchup between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers had more than just on-court action, with an intriguing backstory surrounding the coaching staffs. Doc Rivers took the opportunity to comment on the Lakers’ move to fire Darvin Ham, who was later replaced by JJ Redick.
Ham, now Rivers’ top assistant with the Bucks, served as the Lakers’ head coach from 2022 to 2024. Rivers addressed the situation: “I’m not going to get into the whole thing that happened there, but he took a team to a Western Finals, and then the following year, he won the in-season tournament… and the they release him. It literally makes no sense,” Rivers remarked, making it clear he believed Ham deserved better treatment from the Lakers.
Rivers continued to praise Ham’s contributions: “First of all, he’s been here even longer than me. He knows things that I didn’t know. He has relationships with the players. Another guy that can trust. Trust is so important for players.” He emphasized, “Darvin Ham’s a coach, he should be on the sidelines, and I wanted him next to me.”
Ham reflects on his time with the Lakers
Despite the circumstances, Darvin Ham remains proud of his tenure with the Lakers. Reflecting on his time there, Ham said, “The state of the team when they hired me, up until the day they fired me, I like to think it improved. And that’s all I care about.”
And highlightened the progress made under his leadership: “I poured myself, my heart and soul, into that team trying to improve it from where it was, 33-49. And to get to the Western Conference finals in one year, have guys benefit from it financially.”
Rivers and Redick’s history
Another layer to Thursday’s Bucks-Lakers clash was the past tension between Doc Rivers and JJ Redick. The two have a history, as Redick played under Rivers for four seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers.
Redick had criticized Rivers during his time as an ESPN analyst, calling out Rivers for making excuses for poor results, saying, “The trend is always making excuses. Doc, we get it, taking over a team in the middle of a season is hard … But it’s always an excuse. It’s always throwing your team under the bus … There’s never accountability with that guy.”
However, now in his role as the Lakers’ head coach, Redick softened his stance: “I regret my tone in that case. I’ve owned that and I regret my tone.” He further clarified, “I don’t carry beef with people. And I’m not going to get into the history of Doc and I’s relationship right now. And I probably won’t ever. He’s fine in my book.”