The Los Angeles Lakers have reportedly hired Darvin Ham to be their next head coach, and it has seemingly restored a bit of credibility to a franchise that appears to have a tarnished reputation.
L.A. was expected to compete for the NBA championship this season after trading for Russell Westbrook last summer. Instead, it didn’t even qualify for the play-in tournament.
Former head coach Frank Vogel became the first casualty of the Lakers’ terrible season. He was fired after their last regular-season game.
But many around the league feel Ham is the right man for the job, and one of them is a former teammate.
Via Lakers Daily:
“Chauncey Billups, another former player, also chimed in on the hire. The current Portland Trail Blazers head coach expressed excitement for Ham.
“‘He’s going to be honest as a coach of the Lakers, which is what I think you need in the NBA today — somebody that’s going to be honest but know how to be honest without actually just tearing you down,’ Billups said to the Los Angeles Times. ‘What can you say? He’s won as a player. He’s won as a coach. I mean, this dude is more than qualified for the task at hand. I’m so happy and proud of him. I spoke to him last night, and he was so excited.’
“Billups also stated that Ham is the right man for the job.
“‘He’s ready for this job. He’s the right guy for this Lakers job,’ Billups said.”
Billups and Ham played together for the 2004 Detroit Pistons, a team that defeated the Lakers in the NBA Finals to win the world championship.
Billups, who was named the Finals MVP that year, became the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers this season, succeeding Terry Stotts, who was one of the Lakers’ other candidates for their vacancy.
