DARVIN HAM
Darvin Ham didn’t begin playing basketball until his senior years of high school at Saginaw High School. The 6-foot-7, 230-pound forward graduated in 1991, and played one year of Junior College ball before going to Texas Tech University where he played 90 games in three years for the Red Raiders and averaged 8.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 22.9 minutes per game. In 1996, during a Sweet 16 game against North Carolina, Ham shattered a backboard and ultimately made the cover of Sports Illustrated. He won the NCAA Slam Dunk contest his senior year. He has two of the top 10 single-season field goal percentage performances in Texas Tech history, and also ranks second in career field goal percentage for the Red Raiders. Ham was signed by the Denver Nuggets as an undrafted free agent. He had stints with the Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, Washington Wizards, Milwaukee Bucks and the Atlanta Hawks, before signing as a free agent with the Detroit Pistons. Ham spent eight seasons in the NBA averaging 2.7 points and 2.3 rebounds per game as a reserve role player. His career culminated after winning an NBA title with the Pistons in 2004. Later that summer the City of Saginaw honored him with a Darvin Ham Day where hundreds of boys and girls showed up at the Temple Theatre to help honor him. After the Dallas Mavericks waived him, he caught on with the New Mexico Thunderbirds of the NBA’s Developmental League as a player/coach. Ham retired at the end of the 2007-08 season; then moved to the bench full-time as an assistant coach. After former coach John Coffino stepped down, Ham was named the Thunderbirds’ head coach. He rose through the ranks and in 2011 he became an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers. He currently is an assistant coach with the Atlanta Hawks. He and wife Deneitra have three sons. Ham has given back to the Saginaw community by holding free basketball life skills camps to address various issues affecting youth. He continues to be a global ambassador of basketball by helping youth through coaching and participating in NBA Youth Camps in six different countries.