Milwaukee Bucks: 10 potential head coaching candidates
By Adam McGee
Darvin Ham
Continuing on the theme of former Bucks who have put the hard yards in on their journey to becoming a head coach, Darvin Ham has been putting in sterling work as an assistant on Mike Budenholzer’s successful Atlanta Hawks coaching staff since 2013.
After retiring in 2008, Ham also used the D-League as an outlet to kickstart his coaching career. Ham spent two years as an assistant coach with the Albuquerque Thunderbirds (now the Canton Charge), before they became the New Mexico Thunderbirds and he became head coach.
After one year in the top seat at the G League level, Ham took a spot on Mike Brown’s Los Angeles Lakers coaching staff, before ultimately outlasting Brown and spending a season working under Mike D’Antoni too.
From there, Ham arrived in Atlanta and became a pivotal member of Budenholzer’s staff that also included Quin Snyder and Kenny Atkinson. The work of Ham and the other coaches was widely praised and credited for the player development that helped spur an unassuming Hawks team to 60 wins back in 2015.
As Snyder and Atkinson departed, Ham assumed the role of lead assistant, and he has even taken on stand-in head coaching duties on the rare occasions when Budenholzer has been out of action.
Ham was another coach highlighted on Arnovitz’s most recent list of prospects, as the former NBA veteran’s ability to communicate with players was highlighted as a particular pro.
"“Ham plays an enormous role with the Hawks and does it without a lot of rah-rah battle cries. He understands the difference between pride and passion, ego and intelligence, and can tell a player — be it a vet like Dwight Howard or a young guy like Dennis Schroder — the truth even if it isn’t what he wants to hear. He knows that you prepare a reliable vet if he’s going to be the whipping boy in a film session, but that you probably don’t do the same for a rookie, because you want to see how he’s going to react.”"