Some NBA officials contend it’s not if, but when, Ham replaces Rivers

By GERY WOELFEL

Another start to the Milwaukee Bucks season.

Another Bucks head coach.

For the third straight year, the Bucks have a new head coach to start their season. Mike Budenholzer was the Bucks head coach to start the 2022-23 season, and Adrian Griffin was the team’s head coach at the start of last season.

This season, Glenn “Doc’’ Rivers will be at the helm. Rivers was hired as the Bucks head coach after 46 games last season, replacing interim head coach Joe Prunty, who had replaced Griffin even though the Bucks had a 30-13 record and were in second place in the Eastern Conference standings at the time.

While Rivers signed a four-year contract with the Bucks, several NBA officials don’t believe he’ll come close to fulfilling it. As such, some NBA officials contend the Bucks owners already have a succession plan in place if Rivers decides to quit coaching. And that plan, sources insist, is to have Darvin Ham be Rivers’ successor.

“That’s pretty much the talk around the league,’’ an NBA executive said of Ham eventually replacing Rivers. “That’s been out there ever since he took that job.’’

Ham was hired as the Bucks lead assistant coach in early June. He had spent the last two seasons as the Los Angeles Lakers head coach but was fired – with two years remaining on his contact – after the Lakers were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by Denver

Sources said Ham was subsequently considered for some assistant head coaching positions, one being with the Phoenix Suns. The Suns are coached by Budenholzer, who had Ham on his staff in Atlanta from 2013-2018 and then in Milwaukee from 2018-2022.

Ham, besides working as an assistant coach for the Bucks, played three seasons for the team, starting in 1999. In that span, he was a fan favorite with his all-out hustle and electrifying dunks.

Ham has confided with some people that his dream job is being the Bucks head coach. He now appears positioned to realize that dream.

“That’s why he’s in Milwaukee,’’ an NBA front office official said of the 51-year-old Ham eventually succeeding Rivers, who turns 63 on Sunday.

Added another person close to the Bucks situation: “That’s not just talk. I’m telling you it’s a done deal.’’