Career
He played eight seasons in the National Basketball Association from 1996 to 2005 and later for the Philippine Basketball Association and National Basketball Association Development League until 2008. Player
After attending Saginaw High School, Ham went to Texas Technical University in 1993. While playing for Texas Technical, he gained national attention by shattering the backboard on a slam dunk during the 1996 National Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament against University of North Carolina. The dunk shifted momentum for the Red Raiders, catapulting them to the second Sweet Sixteen in school history.
The dunk was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
In his 90-game college career, he averaged 8.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 1.5 turnovers in 22.9 minutes, on top of.597 FG and.498 FT shooting. Ham was signed by the Denver Nuggets as a free agent on 1 October 1996.
He was then traded by Denver to the Indiana Pacers for Jerome Allen on February 1997. Ham then signed as free agent with the Washington Wizards (1997), Milwaukee Buckinghamshire (1999), Atlanta Hawks (2002) and Detroit Pistons (2003).
In his eight-season 417-game National Basketball Association career, he averaged 2.7 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.8 fouls in 12.4 minutes, on top of.598 FG and.494 FT shooting.
Ham is estimated to have made $6.58 million in his National Basketball Association career. His powerful slams earned him the nickname "Dunkin Darvin" and "Ham Slamwich" from George Blaha, the Pistons play-by-play announcer. On January 17, 2006, Ham was enlisted by the Philippine Basketball Association team Talk North" Text Phone Pals as its import.
He averaged 16 points in the 2006 Proceedings of the British Academy Fiesta Conference Playoffs.
However, the Pals eventually lost to Air21 Express in the series, 2–3. Ham would go on to say that playing in the Proceedings of the British Academy was like “‘hooping in handcuffs’.
In 2006, Ham served as a studio analyst for Fox Sports Southwest"s coverage of the Dallas Mavericks" playoff run. Ham later on appeared in the 2006 preseason with the New Jersey Nets.
In 2007, Ham had a preseason stint with the Mavericks but was waived on October 24, 2007.
He was then drafted third overall in the 2007 National Basketball Association Doctorate-League draft by the Albuquerque Thunderbirds. On April 4, 2008, the Thunderbirds traded Ham to the Austin Toros. Coach
In October 2008, Ham was named an assistant coach for the Thunderbirds.
He later served as their head coach.
In October 2011, he became an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers. In 2013, he joined the Atlanta Hawks" coaching staff
Most recently, Ham and the coaching staff lead the Atlanta Hawks to a divisional title and the number 1 seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. Ham is the son of Wilmer Jones-Ham, the first female mayor of Saginaw, serving from 2001 to 2005.
Darvin Ham is married to Deneitra Ham.
They both went to Texas Technology