New Los Angeles Lakers coach Darvin Ham credits God as ‘the master of all plans’

Darvin Ham applied and interviewed for a handful of NBA head coaching jobs but was passed over each time. For the Los Angeles Lakers in 2022, however, he was the unanimous selection to be the storied franchise’s next head coach.

During his introductory press conference on Monday, alongside Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka, Ham said it was God’s timing that this opportunity was the one that worked out.

“Timing is everything,” Ham said. “As I said, I put my faith in God. He’s the master of all plans and I just want to take this time to thank all of those teams that passed on me so I could end up right back where I need to be with Rob and the Buss family.

“It’s all good. I’m good, trust me. You live, learn, seek out an opportunity and if you don’t get it, you just keep getting better and trying to add more things to your repertoire.”

A former NBA player from 1996 to 2005, Ham turned to coaching after his playing days. His NBA coaching career began in 2011 with the Lakers before leaving in 2013 to be an assistant with the Atlanta Hawks from 2013 to 2018 and, most recently, the Milwaukee Bucks from 2018 to 2022. To him, returning to the city of his first NBA coaching stop feels like a “homecoming,” he said.

Before Ham even began talking about strategy or long-term plans for the team, he gave credit to God.

“First of all, I want to thank God,” Ham said. “Coming from where I come from, I was raised in a household with strong, spiritual faith, belief in God and his Son Jesus Christ, so I want to start with that. Everything I’ve been able to overcome in my life, along with the people around me, it’s been that spirit that was instilled in me as a youngster.”