Darvin Ham, the new head coach for the Los Angeles Lakers, believes God is the “master of all plans,” openly sharing 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.”

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.”

Darvin Ham grew up in Saginaw, Michigan. After attending Saginaw High School, Ham went to Texas Tech University in 1993. He gained national attention while playing for Texas Tech by shattering the backboard on a slam dunk during the 1996 NCAA Tournament against UNC. The dunk shifted momentum for the Red Raiders, catapulting them to the first Sweet Sixteen in school history. The dunk was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

After his college career, Ham was signed by the Denver Nuggets as a free agent on October 1, 1996. He was then traded by Denver to the Indiana Pacers for Jerome Allen in February 1997. Ham then signed as a free agent with the Washington Wizards (1997), Milwaukee Bucks (1999), Atlanta Hawks (2002), and Detroit Pistons (2003). He played in the NBA for eight seasons from 1996 to 2008 and 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. Darvin Ham is a man who isn’t afraid to speak about his faith. He was passed up for other coaching jobs, but he attributes that to God’s perfect timing.

Perhaps he’s the perfect coach for Los Angeles and will lead them to a successful season. God put him in the right place at the right time and knew that Ham was the perfect coach for the Lakers.