Rob Pelinka expects Darvin Ham to bring ‘toughness and competitive edge’ to Lakers

A week after reports first leaked that the Lakers had agreed to a deal with Darvin Ham to be the franchise’s 28th head coach, the team itself officially announced the hiring on Friday.

Ham returns to the city and franchise where he began the NBA portion of his coaching career a decade ago. After spending a pair of seasons in Los Angeles, Ham solidified himself as one of the most respected assistant coaches in Atlanta and Milwaukee.

General manager Rob Pelinka released the following statement on the hiring of Ham:

“When someone begins his NBA coaching career at the G League level and goes all the way through playing an integral role on the front bench of an NBA Championship team, it really speaks to a certain strength of character. Our players and fans will immediately identify with Darvin’s no-nonsense and hard-working approach, which we feel will bring toughness and a competitive edge to all we do,” said Pelinka. “When you add that to Darvin’s sophisticated grasp of in-game strategy and deep knowledge of the game of basketball, we have the ideal coach for this next chapter in Lakers history. We could not be more honored and proud to name Darvin Ham as our new head coach.”

Ham’s hiring has been nearly universally approved and celebrated over the last week. The night of his hiring, both LeBron James and Magic Johnson shared excitement at the appointment of Ham.

Giannis Antetokounmpo called Ham the “right fit” for the Lakers after spending most of his career with Ham as an assistant coach of his with the Bucks. More recently, Draymond Green spoke passionately about Ham’s appointment and what that meant to him as a fellow Saginaw, MI, native.

For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts. You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.