According to reports, Darvin Ham, the former coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, declined the Phoenix Suns’ offer to work as an assistant under Mike Budenholzer.
After hiring him as head coach of the Phoenix Suns last month, Budenholzer “made a run at trying to convince” Ham to join his staff; but, Ham “understandably passed after two exacting seasons in Lakerland,” according to NBA insider Marc Stein. [Source: Bleacher Report]
Stein said, “The Suns changed their approach and asked coach David Fizdale to stay on staff under Budenholzer, even though Fizdale was hired by now-fired coach Frank Vogel last summer.” ESPN’s Wojnarowski reports that Fizdale agreed to continue working for the company.
Over the course of the last week, the Suns have apparently added three more assistant coaches in addition to Fizdale: Wisconsin Herd head coach Chaisson Allen (via HoopsHype), Utah Jazz assistant coach Chad Forcier (via Deseret News), and Vince Legarza, a former assistant to Budenholzer (via AZ Central’s Duane Rankin).
On May 3, Ham was fired from his position as head coach of the Lakers after two seasons. Prior to joining the Lakers, Ham worked as Budenholzer’s assistant for nine seasons.
Budenholzer has been head coach for ten years. When Budenholzer was hired as the Atlanta Hawks’ head coach for the first time in 2013, Ham started working with him. Ham was lured to the Milwaukee Bucks by Budenholzer after he was fired from Atlanta, and he remained there until 2022 when the Lakers hired
