DARVIN Ham is headed to the Western Conference Finals in his first season as coach of the Los Angeles Lakers- a mean feat for a former NBA journeyman turned longtime assistant coach.
The Los Angeles Lakers head coach was so well travelled he played in such places such as Milwaukee, Denver, Atlanta, Detroit, Washington, Indiana and even in the Philippines, where he played as an import for Talk 'N Text (now TNT) nearly two decades ago.
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Here's a brief trip down memory lane.
It was in the 2005-06 PBA Fiesta Conference when the 6-foot-7 Ham was brought in for the Phone Pals as coach Joel Banal needed a replacement for Damian Cantrell.
Ham arrived in the Philippines in time for the quarterfinal battle between No. 4 seed Talk 'N Text and fifth seed Air21, which was coming off a tough wildcard duel against the dethroned champion San Miguel.
A year removed from his last NBA game, Ham delivered pedestrian marks in his PBA debut with 16 points on 7-of-19 shooting, alongside 14 rebounds, two assists, and two steals as the Express got the better of the Phone Pals, 98-93 in Game Three of the best-of-five series on Jan. 18, 2006.
It was a tough loss to swallow especially since Asi Taulava had a superb 29-point, 14-rebound performance, while TNT also drew solid outings from Jimmy Alapag (18 points and four assists) and Willie Miller (13 points and eight rebounds).

Ham settled down two days later although he only had 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting, alongside 10 rebounds and two blocks in Talk 'N Text's 99-89 Game Four win to force the decider.
He played support to Taulava's 22 and 21, as Vic Pablo (16 points), Alapag (17 points), and Miller (13 points) all did their part to push the series to a do-or-die affair.
Unfortunately, that was it for Ham as his PBA career only lasted for three games with Air21 taking a 117-110 overtime win.

The forward from Saginaw, Michigan had 20 points on 9-of-20 shooting, as well as 13 rebounds and three assists in the losing cause for the Phone Pals.
Miller (19 points, nine rebounds, and six assists), Alapag (17 points, six assists, and four rebounds), Pablo (16 points and six rebounds), and Taulava (15 points and 12 rebounds) all gave it their best, but Talk 'N Text got stunned by the hot hands of Gary David and Ronald Tubid who both fired 19 points in the game.

Add those late explosions to Daniels' 25 points and 17 rebounds and the Bo Perasol-coached Express entered the semifinals for the first time in franchise history to meet Purefoods.
It ended the brief PBA career for Ham, who netted 16.7 points on 42-percent field goal shooting and 40-percent free throw clip, 12.3 rebounds, and 2.0 assists in his three games for TNT, as he played for two more years as a pro before going into coaching in 2008.
He served as an assistant coach for the Lakers in 2011 to 2013, Atlanta Hawks in 2013 to 2018, and with the Milwaukee Bucks since 2018, all while making several visits to the country in various NBA-related activities.
Now 48, Ham became the second PBA import to be named head coach in the NBA after former San Miguel reinforcement Keith Smart (Cleveland and Warriors).
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