Barely two hours before Thursday night’s game in Oklahoma City, the Milwaukee Bucks announced that head coach Doc Rivers will miss the contest due to personal reasons, per Eric Nehm of The Athletic. Lead assistant Darvin Ham, a familiar face on the Bucks bench and in team-related memes, will take over for a night in Milwaukee’s final game before the All-Star break. After knocking off Orlando as massive road underdogs just yesterday, the Bucks can capture significant momentum heading into the hiatus with another improbable road win.
Darvin Ham called on to assemble the troops in first-half finale vs defending champs
In addition to Rivers, Giannis Antetokounmpo remains out with a calf strain, while Ryan Rollins will miss his second straight with plantar fasciitis in his right foot. Kyle Kuzma is listed as questionable (left foot soreness).
The Thunder (42-13) are without reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as well as Jalen Williams, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Ajay Mitchell. Still owners of the league’s best record despite all the injuries, they are 11.5-point home favorites as of early evening. The Bucks (22-30) will have their hands full.
Ham, of course, has head coaching experience of his own from his time with the Lakers from 2022-23 to ’23-24. Despite coaching to a 90-74 record and reaching the Conference Finals in ’23 (he finished 11th in Coach of the Year Voting), Ham didn’t last long in that ruthless environs.
Running the Lakers is hard enough without LeBron James looming over everything as a franchise star, associate general manager, and part-time team owner (Just kidding. Half-kidding. Kind of…)
After Ham flamed out in Los Angeles, the Bucks gladly re-installed him at the assistant post he held from 2019-22, following a playing career that included three seasons in Milwaukee. He may not be up to the task of leading an NBA team for an entire season, but calling on him to run a tight ship for a game or two is something the Bucks have proven they feel comfortable doing. Ham is the next man up on the coaching depth chart if Rivers can’t go or gets tossed mid-game.
They’ll put the clipboard in his hands on Thursday in what figures to be a very difficult matchup.
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