It’s the most difficult time of the year for NBA coaches. Following the regular season, a few teams advance to the NBA Playoffs, while many more face what I refer to as the NBA Layoffs. It’s when the league fires a significant number of coaches at once, some for good reason, some for less.
The Golden State Warriors have not suffered an NBA layoff in a decade, but their Southern California rivals have. Including last year, when the Los Angeles Lakers dismissed head coach Darvin Ham soon after a first-round playoff upset, which was one of the NBA’s worst-kept secrets.
Could Ham find himself assisting the Warriors? It is not a wild idea: under Steve Kerr, the Warriors have been a favorite site for former head coaches to take assistant roles and restore their worth, as Mike Brown and Alvin Gentry did before moving on to head coach jobs elsewhere, and Kenny Atkinson is about to do the same.
According to Anthony Slater of The Athletic, the Warriors have already held negotiations with Ham in recent weeks. However, Slater quickly threw cold water on his own news, claiming that the inclusion of Ham “isn’t expected to happen.”
Slater did not elaborate on that claim, so it’s unclear whether the two parties didn’t see a natural match or whether Ham simply wants to wait and see if a head coaching job (or a better assistant coach role) arises for him. Ham may also want to take some time off after the work and drama of coaching the Lakers. Because he was sacked with time remaining on his contract, Ham will earn money this season even if he does not coach.
In either case, the meetings with Ham indicate that the Warriors are looking for a high-profile assistant coach to join their bench this summer.
