Lakers officially name Darvin Ham as head coach

Laker Nation reacts to reported Darvin Ham hiring

The Los Angeles Lakers are expected to name Darvin Ham head coach.

LOS ANGELES - On Friday, the Los Angeles Lakers officially announced Darvin Ham as the team's new head coach.

Last week, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and The Athletic's Shams Charania reported the Milwaukee Bucks assistant coach would lead the Lake Show for the upcoming NBA season.

According to Charania, Ham will coach the Lakers on a four-year deal.

Ham will replace Frank Vogel, who was fired after the 2021-2022 season. The Lakers missed the 2022 NBA Playoffs after finishing the regular season with a 33-49 record.

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The Lakers have not made any formal announcements regarding Ham as of Friday afternoon.

Lakers to name Darvin Ham head coach, reports say

The Los Angeles Lakers have reportedly found their next head coach.

If the move is official, Ham will leave the Bucks after joining Mike Budenholzer's coaching staff in 2018. Ham had a brief stint as the Bucks' acting head coach after Budenhozer entered COVID-19 protocols in January 2022.

Ham, who turns 49 in July, has two NBA championships under his belt: one as a player when he was with the 2004 Detroit Pistons and once as the assistant coach of the 2021 Bucks. Prior to Milwaukee, Ham's stops in the coaching ranks include the Albuquerque/New Mexico Thunderbirds as an assistant and head coach, was an assistant coach with the Lakers from 2011 to 2013 and was the assistant coach for the Atlanta Hawks from 2013 to 2018.

The reported hiring appears to have gotten the big thumbs up from the team's star LeBron James.

Laker legend Magic Johnson also took to social media to show his approval about the reported hire.

"I'm excited that the Lakers just hired Darvin Ham as the coach," Johnson said on social media.