MILWAUKEE — Ironically enough, when the Milwaukee Bucks gave Darvin Ham a moment of recognition, the Lakers’ first-year head coach wasn’t able to soak it in.

The Fiserv Forum jumbotron played a short but heartfelt tribute video to Ham, a four-year assistant in Milwaukee: Gatorade baths, visits to the White House, and a handful of other memories that made him a beloved figure within the Bucks organization. Then the camera panned to Ham himself, who was mid-conversation with Troy Brown Jr. about an adjustment during the first-quarter timeout.

Above all, a return to Milwaukee was a business trip, Ham understood. But that didn’t stop him from soaking in some of the familiar faces and comfort spots in his first game here as an opponent since he was hired by the Lakers in May.

“What they call it, deja vu? I just had to make sure I went to the right locker room,” he quipped. “I just started thinking about all the memories and everything we went through in this building. The history we made. So it was great. Wonderful feelings.”

Ham is a two-time part of Bucks history, first as a player under George Karl, then as a coach for the 2021 title-winning team that hung the first banner since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wore their uniform. While in Milwaukee, Ham earned a reputation as a hard-nosed coach capable of building deep relationships with players.

He and Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer, who he served for nine years as an assistant, hugged and chatted pregame. The two men still have plenty of conversations in their free time, and Budenholzer admitted he’s had some trouble staying up late for West Coast games, but he gets his share of Lakers contests.

Budenholzer said he thought Ham’s decision to bring Russell Westbrook off the bench – a move the organization struggled with even before he arrived – then getting productivity out of Westbrook was an indicator of some of his best strengths.

“He has an incredible amount of respect and appreciation for what he brings to the game today, what he’s done in the past and what he’s going to do going forward,” he said. “That level of communication, that level of honesty, there’s just not a lot of people who can do that the way Darvin can.”

But once Ham gets talking about his career, he’ll give just as much credit to “Coach Bud.” One of the impressions that Budenholzer left on Ham, he said, was what he called “FIO,” or more clearly, “Figure It Out.”

“Sometimes you’ll execute (schemes) like you need to, but other times you’re gonna execute them and the shot’s still gonna go in, or they’re still gonna get an open look,” Ham said. “A lot of times when you’re sitting there, everybody’s got their palms to the sky wondering what the hell to do, you gotta put your head down, put your energy into what you’re doing and figure it out.”

Related Articles

But the Lakers’ game plan for Milwaukee was far from throwing their hands up: Assistant Schuyler Rimmer (another Bucks transplant) was put in charge of the scout assignment. During the Lakers’ shootaround, Troy Brown Jr. noted that the report felt particularly detailed in part because of how well Ham and Rimmer know the Bucks personnel.

Ham said he tried not to throw too much at his team – “When you have players like LeBron, A.D. and Russ, they’re sitting there thinking like, ‘Well hell, they gotta stop us, too.’” – but he acknowledged that it was a “fun scout” for him and Rimmer: “You get to peek under the hood of a car you once rode in.”

Though Ham hails from Michigan, Wisconsin is now a sort of second home, still nestled in his native Midwest. His son Dominic plays at UW-Madison on the basketball team, and his son Donovan still works for the Bucks in the video department.

“It’s a city that’s been great to my family,” he said. “I’ll always love and cherish my years here and look to have many more opportunities to come visit and hang out every now and then.”