Darvin Ham goes scorched earth on the Lakers for firing him

Darvin Ham's 14-0 record en route to a second consecutive NBA Cup championship solidifies his status as the king of the annual in-season tournament. He and the Milwaukee Bucks convincingly took down the Oklahoma City Thunder despite being considerable underdogs heading into the contest, earning themselves a handsome payday.

This time around, Ham won the 2024 Emirates NBA Cup as the top assistant on head coach Doc Rivers' staff. But around this time last year, he did so as the Los Angeles Lakers sideline general, only to be roughly fired five months later.

It's safe to say a lot has changed for Ham between his two NBA Cup titles. Yet, despite landing on his feet, he will not go quietly into the night about the Lakers dismissing him. The 51-year-old put the Lakers on blast in a recent story from Andscape's Marc J. Spears.

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Darvin Ham goes scorched earth on the Lakers for firing him

Per Spears, Ham was "extremely disappointed and perplexed" when the Lakers terminated him. Moreover, he believes the Lakers fared well enough under his watch to get retained beyond their initial agreement.

"To do as well as I did, I swear to God, anywhere else I’m probably looking at an extension with what I did. I’m not talking about feelings. I’m talking actual facts. They go from not making it to the playoffs to the final four in the NBA, the conference finals. And then you win the in-season tournament, navigate through all the injuries and win both of your play-in games to get to the playoffs."

Ham didn't stop there. He feels his 2022-23 Lakers squad's improbable run to the Western Conference Finals deserves more recognition. While everyone clings to Los Angeles' infamous
"most competitive sweep of all time," his perspective of what transpired is different.

"People always talk about us losing to Denver, but they never talk about how we got to Denver. We beat a kick-ass young squad in Memphis, and we beat [the] Golden State [Warriors]."

In two seasons with Los Angeles, Ham went 90-74, though his 9-12 postseason record was ostensibly his ultimate demise. Nonetheless, he feels the Lakers didn't give him a fair shake and isn't afraid to say it.