Magic Johnson makes his thoughts on Lakers coach Darvin Ham very clear

Mar 23, 2018; Omaha, NE, USA; NBA former player Magic Johnson watches during the first half between the Clemson Tigers and the Kansas Jayhawks in the semifinals of the Midwest regional of the 2018 NCAA Tournament at CenturyLink Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Magic Johnson hasn’t been a fan of every Los Angeles Lakers head coach (see: Westhead, Paul and Walton, Luke). But Darvin Ham already appears to have Johnson’s seal of approval.

The retired Lakers legend Johnson spoke glowingly of Ham in a post to Twitter this week. He credited Ham for doing a “super” job thus far in the team’s playoff series against the Golden State Warriors. Johnson added that Ham was “making the right decisions and adjustments within the game.”

Laker Nation, Coach Darvin Ham has been doing a super job of getting our @Lakers ready to play in the first four games and making the right decisions and adjustments within the game. The Lakers have to be ready to play because of Golden State's Championship pedigree.

— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) May 10, 2023

Lakers fans took a long time to warm up to Ham, a first-year head coach, especially after a cataclysmic 2-10 start to the season and some unflattering viral moments. But Ham really turned the Lakers’ fortunes around in the second half of the year (with a big helping hand from the front office’s trade deadline acquisitions of D’Angelo Russell and Jarred Vanderbilt). Now the Lakers are just one win away from making an improbable conference finals appearance as the No. 7 seed.

Ham has also been finding his chutzpah, throwing shade at opposing head coach Steve Kerr during Game 5 on Wednesday. Now we know that Lakers royalty in Johnson formally approves of Ham too.