'I Put My Faith in God': New Lakers Coach Praises God Before Saying Anything Else at First Press Conference

Darvin Ham, the new head coach for the Los Angeles Lakers, believes God is the “master of all plans,” and he openly shared his Christian faith Monday during his first press conference.

After general manager Rob Pelinka excitedly introduced Ham, 48, the newly-minted coach made first things first and immediately thanked the Lord before saying anything else.

“First of all, I want to thank God. Coming from where I come from, I was raised in a household with strong, spiritual faith, belief in God and His Son Jesus Christ, so I want to start with that,” Ham said. “Everything I’ve been able to overcome in my life, along with the people around me, it’s been that spirit that was instilled in me as a youngster.”

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The coach also shared his belief in the power of God’s timing and said he knows the Lord has him exactly where He wants him.

In fact, Ham even jokingly thanked the teams that passed on him.

“Timing is everything. Like I said, I put my faith in God. He’s the master of all plans, and I just want to take this time to thank all of those teams that passed on me so I could end up right back where I need to be,” he said. “It’s all good. I’m good — trust me.”

Ham continued, “You live, you learn, you seek out an opportunity, and if you don’t get it, you just keep getting better and keep trying to add more things to your repertoire.”

The coach, who played in the NBA for eight years from 1996 through 2008, also served as an assistant coach with the Lakers from 2011 to 2013 before leaving for other teams.

Ham also served five seasons as an assistant with the Atlanta Hawks until 2018 and then was an assistant coach for the Milwaukee Bucks through 2021.

It’s inspiring to see the new head coach so openly address his Christian faith.

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