The Los Angeles Lakers have hired Darvin Ham as head coach on a four-year deal.

Ham was most recently an assistant coach with the Milwaukee Bucks. Ham previously was an assistant coach with the Atlanta Hawks and the Lakers.

The Lakers were also considering Kenny Atkinson and Terry Stotts.

The Charlotte Hornets have identified Darvin Ham as a strong candidate for their head coaching vacancy. Ham is also a candidate for the Los Angeles Lakers' opening.

Ham worked with Mitch Kupchak previously with the Lakers.

Ham is an assistant coach with the Milwaukee Bucks and has been considered a strong potential head coach for several years. 

Darvin Ham, Terry Stotts and Kenny Atkinson are among the candidates who have advanced to a final round of interviews with the Los Angeles Lakers for their head coaching vacancy.

Ham is currently an assistant coach with the Milwaukee Bucks under Mike Budenholzer.

The Portland Trail Blazers parted ways with Stotts a year ago following the 20-21 season.

Atkinson is currently an assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors under Steve Kerr. Atkinson was previously a head coach with the Brooklyn Nets. 

All three candidates will soon meet with top officials from the Lakers, including Jeanie Buss. Rob Pelinka, director of basketball affairs Kurt Rambis, vice president of research and development Joey Buss and assistant general manager Jesse Buss have led the first stage of coaching interviews.

Darvin Ham will interview for the Charlotte Hornets' head coaching vacancy for the second time as he has emerged as a serious candidate.

Ham has been an assistant coach in the NBA since 2011, beginning with the Los Angeles Lakers under Phil Jackson before joining Mike Budenholzer with the Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks.

Ham also played in the NBA for nearly a decade, including for the 2004 champion Detroit Pistons. 

The Lakers are also considering Ham for their head coaching position. 

The Milwaukee Bucks have listed Khris Middleton as out for Game 7 of their second round series against the Boston Celtics. Game 7 will be played on Sunday afternoon in Boston.

Middleton is dealing with a Grade 2 MCL sprain in his left knee. He was injured late in Game 2 of the Bucks first round series victory over the Chicago Bulls.

Without Middleton, Milwaukee's offense has struggled against Boston. The Bucks offensive rating against the Celtics has been just 104.8. That's down considerably from Milwaukee's third-best offensive rating of 115.1 during the regular season.

Despite some optimism earlier in the week that Milwaukee Bucks All-Star Khris Middleton would return for Game 7, there's now pessimism that will happen. ESPN insider Brian Windhorst says that things haven't developed at Milwaukee hoped they might.

"Earlier this week, the folks I was talking to were giving me some optimism about Middleton playing this weekend, but that has not happened. That has not developed," Windhorst said. "And now I would say there's pessimism about Sunday, and frankly, I have been told that even if the Bucks advance to the conference finals, there'd be pessimism he'd be ready to start."

Middleton has been out since midway through the Bucks first round series against the Chicago Bulls. He suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain in his left knee. Middleton recently returned to practice, but has not appeared in Milwaukee's second round series against the Boston Celtics through six games.

Host Danny Leroux (@DannyLeroux) and Dan Feldman of NBC’s Pro Basketball Talk (@DanFeldmanNBA) discuss the second round of the playoffs and the offseason to come.

They discuss the phenomenal Bucks/Celtics series, negotiations with James Harden and Kyrie Irving, Heat/Sixers, Suns/Mavs, Warriors/Grizzlies and much more.

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The Los Angeles Lakers have requested permission to interview Charles Lee for their head coaching vacancy.

The Lakers are searching for a replacement for Frank Vogel. 

Lee is also a candidate for the Charlotte Hornets' vacancy this offseason while he also interviewed for the Sacramento Kings' position. 

Lee has worked under Mike Bundeholzer since 2014.

The Milwaukee Bucks erased a 14 point deficit to come back and beat the Boston Celtics 110-107 in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The Bucks, who outscored the Celtics 33-21 in the fourth quarter, now have a 3-2 lead in the series. They also shot 6-of-6 from 3 in the fourth quarter, tied for the most 3-point makes without a miss in the final quarter over the last 25 years. 

"We just always play with that confidence," said Jrue Holiday, who scored 24 points, after the game. "That there's going to be time left, and if we take care of business we'll always give ourselves a chance."

Giannis Antetokounmpo lead all scorers with 40 points and 11 rebounds, though Holiday sealed the game with a block and a steal on consecutive possessions against Marcus Smart.

Mike Budenholzer praised Holiday's winning instinct.

"Just a great instinctive play by Jrue," said Budenholzer. "He's a winner. Jrue Holiday's a winner. You ask any player in this league, any coach in this league, he's a winner."

Game 6 is on Friday. 

The NBA has announced that the Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks will play two preseason games in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates ahead of next season. The games will take place on October 6 and October 8, 2022.

These two games will be the first in Abu Dhabi, as all as the first NBA games in the UAE and the Arabian Gulf. The NBA had previously announced plans to return to playing international games in coming seasons.

It's expected that the league will eventually return to playing in Europe, with games also possible in Eastern Asia and possibly Australia. The NBA has also made it known they would like to expand to play more games in Latin America and South America. The San Antonio Spurs recently reached an agreement to play additional "home" games away from San Antonio, and this will likely include games in Mexico.