Bucks hiring "safe" Doc Rivers replacement would be ultimate death blow

Now that Doc Rivers is mercifully gone, his assistant, Darvin Ham, might seem like a reassuring option as the next head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks. Fans have seen his face on the sidelines for the past two seasons, as well as during a four-year stretch that included the Bucks' title run in 2020-21.

Earlier this season, Ham filled in for Rivers when the latter had to leave town for a funeral. He has prior coaching experience. In some role or other, he has spent 15 years as a coach in the league. All of the above are points in his favor.

And yet, hiring Ham would set up the Bucks for more of the same failure. A familiar face is exactly what they don't need as they seek a fresh path forward.  

Bucks must be wary of Ham-Rivers connection

Being part of the thoroughly toxic Rivers regime doesn't help Ham's case. Fair or not, the festering dysfunction between players and coaching staff implicates the whole crew. That includes Ham, Rivers' right-hand man. 

His close association with Rivers could be an automatic disqualifier in itself. We all witnessed the utter ineptitude of Bucks coaching. Simple, fixable flaws plagued the team from tipoff in the season opener to the buzzer in the finale. 

While accountability falls first and foremost on the players, effective coaching staffs inspire growth and maximize talent. Rivers and his crew did neither.

Even worse, the bridge of communication had seemingly burned to the ground by the time of Kyle Kuzma's retaliatory benching in early March. Good luck getting through to players when they've stopped listening. 

Who knows? Maybe Ham pushed back against Rivers' bumbling tyranny and supplied basketball insights his superior ignored. Unless reports to that effect emerge, however, the Bucks won't have fans' support in trusting anyone on Rivers' staff to rewire the toxic culture. 

Seriously, we're done. Time to clean house. 

Ham's credentials offer no extra comfort

His own history at the helm is unflattering. Despite a 90-74 record during two seasons with the Lakers, in the end Ham clearly lost control. A 2023 Conference Finals berth soured after a four-game sweep at the hands of the Nuggets. Getting bounced in the first round a year later sealed Ham's fate. 

Coaching LeBron James isn't easy, but more than ever, neither is coaching Giannis Antetokounmpo. To be honest, he has become something of a diva himself. 

If Giannis is traded, the Bucks will be an even younger roster, very unlike the older group with whom Ham gained his only head-coaching experience. Not a match.

Holding that against him might be flawed logic: he proved unfit to handle a dramatic superstar on an aging, title-hopeful roster, so he can't be trusted to coach a young team, either. Fair enough. Perhaps Ham deserves a chance in a new environment. 

In reality, there is likely a reason the Lakers gig has been his only shot. Think about it: a career-long assistant withered in the bright lights of Los Angeles, then returned to the same role after being banished by King James. As a head coach, Ham was a fish out of water.

After messing up in the worst way possible by hiring Rivers, the Bucks can't repeat the Lakers' mistake by promoting his henchman.