Having reportedly found their head coach in Mike Brown, the New York Knicks may be ready to Ham it up on the sidelines.
Per longtime NBA insider Marc Stein, the Knicks have “expressed interest” in adding two-time champion Darvin Ham as an assistant coach. The Phoenix Suns, likewise working with a new head coach in Jordan Ott, are also said to be lurking in the Ham sweepstakes.
Currently stationed as Doc Rivers’ top assistant in Milwaukee, Ham previously collaborated with Brown during the latter’s year-plus stint at the helm of the Los Angeles Lakers. The 51-year-old has two NBA rings to his name, winning as a player with the Detroit Pistons in 2004 before returning as an assistant under Mike Budenholzer with the Milwaukee Bucks’ run in 2021.
In between assistant coaching stints with Milwaukee (2018-22, 2024-present), Ham followed in Brown’s footsteps and became the Lakers’ head coach in 2022.
He reached the Western Conference Finals in his debut and won the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament in the following year but he was let after a first-round loss in the ensuing postseason. Ham did eventually obtain in-season glory this past winter and won the tournament, rebranded as the NBA Cup, with the Bucks in December.
Prior to his coaching entry, Ham put eight seasons on an NBA floor after going undrafted out of Texas Tech in 1996. His longest stint came with the Bucks (1999-2002) and he also worked with Denver, Indiana, Washington, Atlanta, and Detroit.
Time will tell what Brown’s staff looks like as the Knicks press forward in their offseason journey. Though Brown has yet to be officially confirmed as the new Knicks boss, a prior report from Stein hinted that assistant from the departed Tom Thibodeau’s staff could make their way onto the new batch.
In addition to Ham, Stein reported that the Knicks may also look into another former Lakers advisor, Phil Handy, as an assistant. Handy has been on the staff of three NBA champions (2016 in Cleveland, 2019 in Toronto, 2020 with LA Lakers) and recently served as one of the head coaches in Unrivaled, the domestic women’s three-on-three league co-founded by current New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart.
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