Five things Darvin Ham’s introductory press conference told us about his leadership style

Yesterday, the Los Angeles Lakers officially introduced former Milwaukee assistant and NBA player Darvin Ham as their next head coach — an always illustrious and pressure-filled job. Ham’s been handed a particularly tall task, considering the pivotal crossroads the team is at with championship aspirations but a seemingly fragmented roster.

This was Ham’s first media availability since becoming head coach and he answered a litany of questions on a variety of topics — ranging from his own approach, to how he views the team, to his vision for their path to success.

There were reports that Coach Ham’s personality, command of a room and approach were key reasons why the Lakers’ front office were enamored with him. Those reasons are why they offered him the role along with a four-year deal after his second interview, and then canceled all further meetings with other candidates.

In our first public look at those attributes, Ham certainly delivered. I explained the five key things I noticed about Ham’s leadership and interpersonal style and how that may translate to the court.

Coaching a Lakers or LeBron James-led team with championship aspirations is difficult enough as is, but Ham’s challenge of catalyzing a franchise turnaround coming off two consecutive failed seasons as a rookie head coach is certainly a gargantuan task. Especially because this truly is a “prove it” year for the front office, and may ultimately influence LeBron’s thoughts on his future with the team.

That being said, based on this press conference and numerous other anecdotes we’ve heard about him — for example, the effusive praise from Golden State Warriors’ forward Draymond Green — Ham very well could be the right man for the job.

Dr. Rajpal Brar, DPT has a doctorate in physical therapy from Northern Arizona University, and runs his own in-person and online sports medicine and performance business, 3CB Performance, in West LA and Valencia, CA in which he further combines his movement expertise and fitness training. Prior to entering into the physiotherapy field, Brar graduated from Cal-Berkeley in Business Administration and spent multiple years in the corporate marketing and strategy field, culminating in managing his own business unit in New York City and being a direct liaison for client management. Brar is additionally training at UCLA’s mindful awareness research center (MARC), has a background in youth basketball coaching and analyzes the Lakers from a medical, skills, and leadership/organizational culture perspective for Silver Screen and Roll and on his own YouTube Channel. You can follow him on Twitter at @3cbPerformance.