Throughout his illustrious career, LeBron James has played for eight different coaches.
And now, Darvin Ham will be his ninth.
According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the Los Angeles Lakers have hired Ham to be their next head coach. Ham has been a longtime assistant coach, most recently with the Milwaukee Bucks, where he was part of the coaching staff that guided the team to a championship in 2021.
Before embarking on a career in coaching, the 48-year-old Ham played eight seasons in the NBA and won a championship with the Detroit Pistons in 2004.
With the Lakers, Ham will be tasked with the tough challenge of guiding a LeBron-led team in his first-ever head coaching gig. James, however, has had previous success playing for first-time head coaches during his career.
Here's a look at all eight previous coaches James has played for.
MORE: Why did the Lakers hire Darvin Ham?
Paul Silas (2003-2005)
After experiencing success with the Charlotte and New Orleans Hornets, Paul Silas was fired by the team in 2003 and immediately hired by the Cleveland Cavaliers at the start of the 2003-04 season. The Cavs hired Silas to act as a strong leader and mentor for James, who was just an 18-year-old rookie.
Silas developed a reputation as being a player's coach with the Hornets but also had significant experience as a player (16-year career that included three championships) and as an assistant coach (Nets, Knicks, Suns, Hornets). He also was the head coach of the San Diego Clippers between 1980-83.
Silas' tenure with the Cavs didn't live up to expectations as he struggled with establishing a team identity. He got fired with just 18 games left in the 2004-05 season, accumulating a record of 69-77.
Brendan Malone (2005)
After Silas was fired, assistant Brendan Malone became the interim coach for the Cavs.
Malone is a longtime assistant coach, working with teams like the Knicks, Pistons, Kings, Magic and Pacers. He was the head coach with the Toronto Raptors during their inaugural season (1995-96). Malone is also the father of Denver Nuggets coach Mike Malone.
With the Cavs, Malone only lasted till the end of the 2004-05 season, going 8-10 in just 18 games.
Mike Brown (2005-2010)
After being a longtime assistant, Mike Brown got his first head coaching opportunity with the Cavs at the start of the 2005-06 season. Brown was hired to bring a defensive mentality to the Cavs as the team struggled mightily on that end of the court.
Defense was what Brown was known for, having designed team defenses as an assistant with the Spurs, Pacers and Wizards. His defensive acumen coupled with his ability to connect with superstars like LeBron made an immediate impact in Cleveland.
Under Brown's guidance and thanks to James' ascension to superstar status, the Cavs won 50 games and made it to the second round of the playoffs in 2006. Brown then guided the Cavs to the NBA Finals in 2007 and to the playoffs every year he was in Cleveland.
However, with the team never making it back to the Finals and James' departure to the Miami Heat, the Cavs fired Brown in 2010.
Erik Spoelstra (2010-2014)
In Miami, James was coached by Erik Spoelstra, who remains the coach of the Heat but was just entering his third season when LeBron joined.
Spoelstra had experienced success in Miami before James arrived. He was an assistant coach when Miami won a championship in 2006 and as a head coach, he guided the Heat to the playoffs in his two seasons with the team.
With James on the roster, Spoelstra guided the team to four straight NBA Finals appearances and back-to-back championships in 2012 and 2013.
David Blatt (2014-2016)
In his first season back in Cleveland, LeBron was coached by first-year coach David Blatt. While this was Blatt's first-ever NBA coaching gig, he came to Cleveland with significant experience.
Blatt had over two decades of international head coaching experience and developed a stellar reputation along the way. He was instrumental to the success of Maccabi Tel Aviv and guided the team to a EuroLeague Championship in 2014. Blatt was also the coach for the Russian Olympic basketball team, who won a bronze medal in 2012.
The Cavs did get to the NBA Finals in Blatt's first year with the team but he never got along with James and was fired midway through his second season.
Tyronn Lue (2016-2018)
After Blatt was fired, LeBron was coached by Tyronn Lue, who was the lead assistant in Cleveland. This was Lue's first-ever coaching gig but Cleveland showed how much faith it had in him by not giving him an interim tag and instead made him the team's new head coach.
Before joining the Cavs, Lue was a longtime assistant under Doc Rivers with the Celtics and Clippers. He was on the staff when the Celtics won the championship in 2008.
Lue's style of coaching instantly connected with LeBron, and the Cavs ended up winning the 2016 championship in his first year there. Led by James and coached by Lue, the Cavs continued to get to the NBA Finals for the next two years but lost to the Golden State Warriors both times.
After the team's 2018 Finals loss, James signed with the Lakers in the offseason. Lue, meanwhile, was fired after a 0-6 start to the 2018-19 season.
Luke Walton (2018-2019)
When James joined the Lakers, Walton had already been the team's coach for two mediocre seasons. The team was filled with young talent yet Walton couldn't figure out a winning formula as the Lakers won just 25 games in his first season and 35 in his second.
Walton had a 10-year NBA career, which included stops with the Lakers and Cavaliers. He won two championships with the Lakers in 2009 and 2010.
After retiring in 2013, Walton was an assistant in the G League (then known as the D-League) for a year and then joined Steve Kerr's coaching staff in Golden State. With the Warriors, Walton instilled aspects of the triangle offense and helped to guide the team to a championship in 2015.
The following season, Walton became Golden State's interim head coach as Steve Kerr had to take a leave of absence due to an ongoing back issue. Kerr later returned to coach that season but Walton more than held his own, guiding the Warriors to a 39-4 record, the second-best start in NBA history.
Golden State finished the season with a record-breaking record of 73-9. And since he coached the team for a significant part of the year, Walton even received a few votes for the Coach of the Year award, which Kerr won.
Walton's tenure in Golden State made him one of the hottest names on the coaching circuit and the Lakers were thrilled to hire him. However, his success with the Warriors didn't translate to the Lakers. Injuries contributed to Walton's lack of success but after not making the playoffs yet again, the Lakers fired him in 2019.
Frank Vogel (2019-2022)
James was then coached by Frank Vogel, who the Lakers hired after failing to hire either Lue or current Suns coach Monty Williams.
Before joining the Lakers, Vogel coached the Orlando Magic for two seasons (2016-2018) but failed to get the youthful team to the playoffs. Vogel, however, had previous success with the Indiana Pacers, a team he coached from 2010 to 2016.
In Indiana, Vogel transformed the Pacers into a championship contender thanks in large part to his defensive schemes. But a catastrophic injury to Paul George and James' continued dominance in the East prevented the Vogel-led Pacers from ever making an NBA Finals appearance.
The Lakers hired Vogel due to his success in Indiana and for his defensive acumen. He was able to make an immediate impact with the Lakers and created a strong defensive-minded team thanks to James and the arrival of Anthony Davis. In his first year, the Lakers won the championship in 2020.
But after that first year, injuries to James and Davis drastically affected the Lakers and any further success Vogel would have.
The Lakers were a Play-In team in 2021 and then lost in six games to the Phoenix Suns in the first round. After not making the playoffs in 2022, Vogel was fired at the end of the season.
