Darvin Ham angling for Doc Rivers’ job in Milwaukee?

Nov 30, 2022; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers coach Darvin Ham at a press conference during the game against the Portland Trail Blazers at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Darvin Ham may be playing chess and not checkers as he makes his return to the Milwaukee Bucks.

Longtime Milwaukee sportswriter Gery Woelfel reported this week that Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo had major input in the team’s recent reunion with Ham as an assistant coach. Woelfel further adds that Ham had offers from several other teams but took the Bucks job with the assumption that he will eventually succeed Doc Rivers as the team’s head coach.

Ham, who was fired as Los Angeles Lakers head coach last month, already has rich history with the Bucks. He was previously an assistant there from 2018-22, including as a member of then-head coach Mike Budenholzer’s championship-winning staff in 2021. As a result, Ham is familiar with multiple key Milwaukee figures, including their franchise player Antetokounmpo, GM Jon Horst, and owner Wes Edens.

That is an advantage that Rivers, who took over as head coach of the Bucks in the middle of this past season, does not quite have yet. Ham, 50, is also far younger than Rivers, 62, and it seemed like Rivers wasn’t always on the same page as Milwaukee’s stars during the year. All of those are reasons why Ham might indeed make sense as an eventual replacement for Rivers in the lead chair for the Bucks.