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American professional basketball coach, Darvin Ham Sr. was born on July 23rd, 1973 in Saginaw, Michigan in the United States of America.

His mother is Wilmer Jones-Ham, the first female mayor of Saginaw, who served from 2001 to 2005. Ham attended Saginaw High School before enrolling to Texas Tech in 1993. He made national headlines while a Red Raider by breaking the backboard on a slam dunk against UNC in the 1996 NCAA Tournament.

Texas Tech’s momentum was changed with the dunk, which propelled them to the first Sweet 16 in school history. Sports Illustrated’s cover displayed the slam.

Following former college teammate Lance Hughes’ victory in 1995, Ham won the NCAA slam dunk competition in 1996. He played in 90 college games, averaging 8.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.0 assists, and 1.5 turnovers in 22.9 minutes while shooting.597 from the field and.498 from the charity stripe.

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On October 1, 1996, the Denver Nuggets signed Ham as a free agent. In exchange for Jerome Allen, Denver transferred him to the Indiana Pacers in February 1997. The Washington Wizards (1997), Milwaukee Bucks (1999), Atlanta Hawks (2002), and Detroit Pistons were the next teams to sign Ham as a free agency (2003).

He averaged 2.7 points, 2.3 rebounds, 1.8 fouls, and 12.4 minutes of playing time per game in his eight-season, 417-game NBA career. He also shot.518 from the field, but he wasn’t much of a danger from outside, making only 4 3-pointers during his career.

Ham participated in the 1997 NBA Slam Dunk Contest and was a part of the Detroit Pistons, who won the NBA title in 2004. As a fan favorite when playing for the Milwaukee Bucks, his strong slams earned him the nicknames “Dunkin Darvin” and “Ham Slamwich,” which he retained throughout the rest of his career.

Ham took part in the Johannesburg, South Africa-based Basketball Without Borders program in 2005, and he also took part in the Dominican Republic program in 2015. The Philippine Basketball Association team Talk ‘N Text Phone Pals signed Ham

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as a replacement import for Damian Cantrell on January 17, 2006.

In the 2006 PBA Fiesta Conference Playoffs, he only appeared in three games, averaging 16.7 points as the Phone Pals eventually fell to Air21 Express in the series, 2-3.

Ham was appointed as a Thunderbirds assistant coach in October 2008. Later, he led them as their coach. He joined Mike Brown’s staff with the Los Angeles Lakers in October 2011 as an assistant coach, serving in a player development capacity with Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, and Dwight Howard.

As a SportsUnited Sports Envoy for the U.S. Department of State, Ham visited Venezuela in June 2011. He collaborated with Kayte Christensen in this capacity to organize basketball clinics for 300 young people from impoverished communities and to meet with Venezuelan sports leaders. By doing this, Ham supported SportsUnited’s goal of advancing global inclusion and understanding via sport.

He joined the coaching staff of the Atlanta Hawks in 2013. He assisted the Hawks in four straight postseason appearances, including their trip to the Eastern Conference finals in 2015. Ham was a member of the coaching staff in 2014 and 2015 that guided the Atlanta Hawks to a divisional championship and the top seed in the 2015 Eastern Conference Playoffs.

In addition to aiding Atlanta in reaching the playoffs, he also helped four of its starting five players earn spots on the 2015 NBA All-Star team.

He moved to Milwaukee in 2018, where Mike Budenholzer won the NBA Coach of the Year title for the 2018–19 season. The team’s finest performance since 1972 was made possible by Ham.

Darvin Ham children: Meet Darvin Ham Jr.

Ham has a son named Darvin Ham Jr. Through the 2021–22 season, Darvin Ham Jr., a former Northwood University player, served as an assistant coach at Northwood for 4 years. Ham Jr. has joined the Cleveland Charge of the NBA G League as an assistant coach as of the 2022–23 season.

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