Milwaukee Bucks: What can Mike Budenholzer’s assistants offer?
By Adam McGee
Darvin Ham
Darvin Ham will need no introduction to most Bucks fans. During the course of a journeyman career, Ham earned cult status at a number of his NBA stops and Milwaukee was no exception.
In particular, Ham was renowned for his spectacular slam dunks, as detailed by Jordan Treske in a piece as part of our cult heroes series last fall. Of course, Ham was also a member of the last Bucks’ squad to advance past the first round, as a forward on the Bucks’ beaten conference finalists in 2001.
Since wrapping up his playing career, Ham has been diligently putting in work as a coach as he continues to work toward his ultimate goal of a head coaching job in the NBA.
Ham started out his coaching days as an assistant coach in the D-League, before ultimately working his way to head coach for the New Mexico Thunderbirds (now the Canton Charge).
From there, Ham spent two years as an assistant with the Lakers, working under both Mike Brown and Mike D’Antoni, before finally landing with Budenholzer and the Hawks in 2013.
Ham has gradually grown in influence on Budenholzer’s staff, and he officially moved up into the role of lead assistant in 2016, following the departures of Quin Snyder and Kenny Atkinson.
In the 2017 edition of his look at coaching prospects to watch, ESPN’s Kevin Arnovitz highlighted Ham as a coach headed in the right direction.
"“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.”"
Considering his long-running relationship with Budenholzer and his status on his staff, it would be a surprise if Ham doesn’t take on a similar role in Milwaukee.