Three-time NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas blasted Milwaukee Bucks assistant coach Darvin Ham, saying he had little chance of being the long-term head coach of a LeBron James-led Los Angeles Lakers. Gilbert Arenas’ comment came after the ex-Lakers coach questioned his former team’s judgment after he won his second straight NBA Cup title on Tuesday last week.
The Bucks defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder, 97-81, in the NBA Cup final on December 17. Following the win, Ham talked to Andscape’s Marc J. Spears, saying that the Lakers’ decision to sack him was unjustified.
“To do as well as I did, I swear to God, anywhere else I’m probably looking at an extension with what I did,” Ham said. “I’m not talking about feelings. I’m talking actual facts.”
The ex-Lakers coach added,
“They go from not making it to the playoffs to the final four in the NBA, the conference finals. And then you win the in-season tournament, navigate through all the injuries, and win both of your play-in games to get to the playoffs.”
Darvin Ham goes at the Lakers… my goodness:
“To do as well as I did… I swear to God, anywhere else I’m probably looking at an extension. I’m not talking feelings, just facts. They go from not making the playoffs to the Conference Finals, and we won the in-season tournament…… pic.twitter.com/WMERa90saB
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) December 18, 2024
On Wednesday’s episode of his “Gil’s Arena” podcast, Gilbert Arenas weighed in on Ham’s remarks, saying that the coach was not a good fit for LeBron James, citing their mismatched intelligence levels.
“Your star player’s probably smarter than you,” Gilbert Arenas said. “And the fact that your star player is smarter than you, that’s a hard job to have. You literally have to talk to LeBron’s ego. … For him to accept you, it’s like talking to some genius. … You have to outsmart him.”
Arenas added, “LeBron’s basketball IQ is so high, if you don’t speak the same lingo as him, he’s not listening to you.”
LeBron and Darvin Ham were destined to fail 📉 pic.twitter.com/YDje0EhPfX
— Gilbert Arenas (@GilsArenaShow) December 22, 2024
Darvin Ham was the Lakers’ head coach from 2022 to 2024, leading the team to back-to-back playoff appearances. In his first season, he unexpectedly led the Lakers to the Western Conference finals as the seventh seed with a 43-49 record. In his second campaign, the Lakers captured the inaugural NBA Cup in-season tournament trophy before exiting early in the playoffs.
Ham had a respectable 90-74 record with the Lakers in his two seasons, yet he was still fired in May following criticism about his questionable rotations and seeming inability to adjust strategies in-game. A month later, the Bucks hired him as their lead assistant, allowing him to make another run for the in-season tournament and defend his title.
Gilbert Arenas says Darvin Ham with LeBron James is like a teacher with a prodigy
While discussing Darvin Ham’s stint with LeBron James and the LA Lakers, Gilbert Arenas compared the coach to a teacher with a genius student.
“Like a teacher, right? You’re a teacher for a reason. You weren’t that smart to be anything but a teacher,” Gilbert Arenas said. “Then you will have this 14 or 15-year-old who’s actually smarter than you.”
The former Washington Wizards guard added, “That scares you as a teacher. And him challenging you on these principles of what you’ve been taught your whole life makes you say, ‘Ah, this kid, I don’t want him in my class anymore,’ because you can’t deal with [him]—his IQ is just higher.”
At the end of it, Gilbert Arenas acknowledged that Ham still fared better than most former coaches that took the mantle after Phil Jackson.
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