Going Ham

[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYh59ahMgEw w=480 h=360]

You know Darvin Ham because he used to dunk very hard. You might not know that he’s an up-and-coming coach. After spending last season as the head coach of the D-League’s New Mexico Thunderbirds (now the Canton Charge), he has interviewed for a position on Mike Brown’s coaching staff and, although no deal has been finalized, he’s on a short list for the job. I’ve used this as an excuse to share everything I can find about the guy I fondly remember for his powerful dunking ability:

• His Sports Illustrated cover is legendary. On that backboard-shattering dunk in the NCAA tournament, he had this to say: “I just wanted to run around the court and do backflips.”
• He had a near-death experience at age 14, being shot by a stray bullet in his hometown of Saginaw, MI.
• His mother, Wilmer Jones Ham McZee, was Saginaw’s first female mayor.
• He was a late bloomer in basketball – he grew up playing football, didn’t start at Saginaw High, and went from Otero Junior College to Texas Tech. He went undrafted in 1996 but caught on with the Denver Nuggets in training camp.
• He had a very underrated dunk in the 1997 dunk contest. Also, it’s a damn shame there isn’t more good quality Darvin Ham footage on YouTube. If you don’t remember how incredible a dunker he was, watch this mix and bear with the quality.
• He and Lindsey Hunter were important “VETERAN LEADERSHIP!” types on Detroit’s 2004 championship-winning team. One of his favorite memories from his NBA career is Larry Brown saying, “every team needs a Darvin Ham” after winning the title.
• I will not call him “Darvin Ham Slamwich,” but while he was with the Pistons, George Blaha did just that.
• As mentioned in Rafe Bartholomew’s Pacific Rims, he made a very brief stop in the Philippines in January 2006. Bartholomew explains that Ham joined the Talk ‘N Text Phone Pals in the middle of the playoffs, where he was expected to dominate the competition while quadruple-teamed and picked on by officials. Talk ‘N Text lost in the quarterfinals, then he was killed in the press. He met Bartholomew for cocktails on his way out of the country, where he compared the press coverage to “the kind of propaganda one might see on a ‘bin Laden tape.’”
• According to Bartholomew, Ham drinks vodka pineapples and likes ultimate fighting.
• His last NBA training camp was with the Mavericks in 2007. There, he talked to Avery Johnson about coaching and, after being waived, became a player-assistant coach for the Thunderbirds. At the end of the season Ham would become a full-time assistant and, when Coffino stepped down, he took over as head coach.
• When he became the head coach, the Thunderbirds printed possibly the best promotional t-shirts ever. Yes, indeed, Ham does make us stronger.
• He had former teammate Rasheed Wallace help out at a Thunderbirds try-out. You should watch the video in that link.
• He and Ryan Bowen helped the Nuggets with their predraft workouts in June. I’d kind of hoped he’d end up an assistant with Denver because he and Kenneth Faried might be kindred spirits.
• He’s been an analyst on NBA TV and Fox Sports Southwest.
• He has a foundation called Urban Youth Development.
• His son, Darvin Ham Jr., was a star at Bridgeport High and now plays for Northwood University. Darvin coached his AAU team.