An ebullient Ham couldn’t stop celebrating his new team’s upset victory over his old one.
Last night, your Los Angeles Lakers turned in their best win of the young 2022-23 NBA season, vanquishing the formidable Milwaukee Bucks 133-129, thanks in large part to the efforts of its three $40 million+ players: Anthony Davis (44 points, 10 rebounds), LeBron James (28 points, 11 assists, eight rebounds), and Russell Westbrook (15 points, 11 assists, seven rebounds). That “Big Three” also miraculously combined for zero turnovers!
Head coach Darvin Ham, who had spent four seasons as an assistant in Milwaukee under head coach Mike Budenholzer, could hardly contain his excitement regarding the victory last night.
Clutch Points noticed Ham hamming it up in these two postgame moments:
In the first postgame interview, Lakers All-Star center Anthony Davis is asked about a relatively obscure stat. Per his interviewer, last night’s contest marked just the second time in Lakers-Bucks matchup history that a Los Angeles and Milwaukee player have both scored 40+ points, with the last occasion being a moment when another All-Star L.A. center, Shaquille O’Neal, and Bucks All-Star small forward Glenn “Big Dog” Robinson, faced off against one another.
Ham swoops in to embrace Davis and his interview in an emphatic bear hug, clearly still excited for the emotionality of the moment.
For the second clip, James is asked about finally passing Lakers legend Magic Johnson in all-time career regular season assists. James’s total of 10,144 now puts him in sixth place on the all-time leaderboard. It seems very likely he will get as high as fourth this season, should health trends from the last few years continue.
