The Los Angeles Lakers have reportedly hired Milwaukee Bucks assistant Darvin Ham as their next head coach, and the decision has so many people applauding it.
Lakers superstar LeBron James tweeted about how excited he is to work with Ham, who coached Giannis Antetokounmpo on the Milwaukee Bucks. After the hire, Antetokounmpo also praised Ham, saying that the former assistant deserves the position “more than anyone” else.
Another person happy with the decision is Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green. Ham and Green are both from Saginaw, Michigan and they attended the same public Saginaw High School — which currently has an enrollment of fewer than 600 people.
The town has a population of fewer than 50,000 people — which makes it 14 times smaller than nearby Detroit. Yet it has produced notable NBA players, including Ham and Green, as well as two-time Slam Dunk Contest champion Jason Richardson.
This is what Green said on his podcast about Ham’s influence on their shared hometown:
“Ultimately, what you’re looking for is hope. That’s the thing that gets lost when you come from a place like Saginaw and you don’t see much outside of that world and you only see what Saginaw has to offer. What you lose first is you lose hope … When Darvin Ham won an NBA championship with the Detroit Pistons, it gave me hope that I could do that too.”
You can watch the full clip from his podcast by clicking below:
"This is so much bigger than some Xs and Os — for me, this is everything"
—@Money23Green speaks on Darvin Ham coaching the Lakers pic.twitter.com/rUdwcqINa1
— The Volume (@TheVolumeSports) May 31, 2022
Green called the hiring decision “groundbreaking” because it shows just how much is possible for people from Saginaw to accomplish.
During the segment, Green also added that attending Ham’s basketball camps as a kid made him believe that he could play in the NBA. Additionally, now that Ham is a head coach, it makes Green believe that he could one day be an NBA head coach.
Back when Ham won a title as an assistant with the Bucks last year, Green also celebrated on Twitter, and he clearly has a ton of respect for a man who he views as a trailblazer.
This is not to say Green would leave the Warriors to play for Ham on the Lakers when he becomes a free agent in 2024. But he does share an agent from Klutch Sports with LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Talen Horton-Tucker.
Perhaps, once his own playing career is over, maybe Green would have some interest in eventually serving on Ham’s bench as an assistant coach. Green is not sure if he wants to coach, but with his mind for the game, I think that he would excel in such a position.
