Crossover World

  The Los Angeles Lakers have hired Milwaukee Bucks assistant Darvin Ham as their head coach, according to Adrian Wojnarowski. The Lakers interviewed a number of candidates, but as the search drew to a close, they focused on three finalists: Ham, former Portland Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts, and former Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson. In the end, Ham was able to win out over his more experienced competition and will receive a four-year deal to coach the franchise, per Shams Charania.  Ham, a small forward in his playing days, managed to eke out an NBA career that lasted nearly a decade. He won a championship with the 2004 Pistons and participated in the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest, but he has since made his name as an assistant coach. After a few years in the G League, Ham's first NBA coaching job came with the Lakers. He worked under Phil Jackson from 2011-2013, just narrowly missing out on Kobe Bryant's last two championships.  His rise to prominence didn't ...

  Frank Vogel has coached his final game for the Los Angeles Lakers, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. He is expected to be told as soon as Monday. The Lakers, winners of the 2020 NBA championship, entered the season as Western Conference favorites. They failed to live up to that mantle due to a combination of injuries, age, a poorly-built roster and mismanagement of that roster, and on Tuesday, they were officially eliminated from playoff contention. They closed the season with a 33-49 record. Now Vogel is paying the price for their failure and has been removed from his position as coach less than two years after leading the Lakers to the title. When asked about the news that he would not be retained, Vogel fired back. "I haven't been told s--- and I'm going to enjoy tonight's game," Vogel told reporters. "We'll deal with tomorrow tomorrow." In truth, the Lakers were hardly committed to Vogel even when they hired him. They had initially pl...

  Frank Vogel has been on the hot seat for months. The Los Angeles Lakers reportedly came close to firing him earlier in the season after a blowout loss to the Denver Nuggets, but ultimately held off sensing that an in-season change would do little good. Should the Lakers fail to advance beyond the play-in round or lose early in the postseason, though, Vogel's fate appears to be sealed. It is likely only a matter of time before the Lakers make a change, and according to Marc Stein, one name is already being floated as a possible replacement: Utah Jazz coach Quin Snyder. The Lakers would have their work cut out for them in pursuing Snyder. The Jazz coach is under coach beyond this season, so Utah would not have to let him leave. Even if they did, the Spurs are also a rumored destination for Snyder, who has coached the Jazz to a 58.3 winning percentage since 2014. Snyder has worked for both the Spurs and Lakers in the past. According to Stein, the Jazz have been unsuccessful in their...

  SAN FRANCISCO -- The Golden State Warriors had a chance Sunday night to start their two weeks (at least) without Stephen Curry on a good note. Led by Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole, they fought back from trailing the San Antonio Spurs by 10 in the third quarter. Momentum was on the Warriors' side during the final stretch, and they had two second-chance opportunities to take the lead as the game entered its final minute. But, two fouls -- one for the Warriors and one against them -- changed the tune and delivered them a 110-108 defeat instead. "The fouls at the end were bizarre ... I'm shocked," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "I don't know how those calls can be made. To call fouls in that situation, both of them, one that went for us and one that went against us, I don't understand. I don't understand how we can decide the game based on plays that have nothing to do with the game. Players are supposed to decide the game." Thompson missed a 22-...

  Don Nelson won his 1,333rd game as an NBA head coach in 2010. That made him the winningest coach of all time. He won only two games after that before ultimately retiring with his name in the history books. He held that record for 12 whole years before Gregg Popovich passed him with win No. 1,336 on Friday. Popovich, like Nelson, isn't expected to hang around all that much longer. He might retire at the end of the year, he might prowl San Antonio's sideline for a few more, but at 73 years old, he probably doesn't have that many wins left in his illustrious career. It won't be too long before Popovich's final tally is carved into the record books.  That number is going to be the new benchmark, and based on his 300-win lead over all other active coaches, his contemporaries might need more than 12 years to finally catch him. So with Popovich's record now official, let's take a look at which active coaches could one day challenge his win total and what it will ...

  If you are one of the many people who believe Gregg Popovich is the greatest coach in NBA history, you can add another bullet point to your argument. With the San Antonio Spurs' 104-102 win over the Utah Jazz on Friday, Popovich passed Don Nelson to become the NBA's all-time winningest coach with 1,336 career victories.  Over the league's 75-year history, only four coaches have held the distinction of being the career wins leader at any point in time: Red Auerbach, Lenny Wilkens, Nelson and now Popovich, who has won five NBA championships with San Antonio and has more regular-season wins than six franchises.  Throughout the years, Popovich has always deflected credit in the direction of those around him, players and coaches, downplaying one of the most decorated coaching resumes in all of sports. Earlier this season, Popovich was asked what the keys to his coaching success have been: "Draft Tim Duncan," he said. "After that, stay alive."  Indeed, Pop w...