After attending Saginaw High School, Ham went to Texas Tech University in 1993. While playing for Texas Tech, he gained national attention 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. Ham won the NCAA slam dunk contest in 1996, following former college teammate Lance Hughes' win in 1995. 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, Milwaukee Bucks, Atlanta Hawks and Detroit Pistons. In his eight-season 417-game NBA 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 competed in the 1997 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, and was a member of the 2004 NBA champion Detroit Pistons. His powerful slams earned him the nickname "Dunkin Darvin" and "Ham Slamwich", as a fan favorite when playing for the Milwaukee Bucks, that carried on into the rest of his career. In 2005, Ham was a participant in the Basketball Without Borders program that was located in Johannesburg, South Africa and later in 2015 he participated in the Dominican Republic. On January 17, 2006, Ham was enlisted by the Philippine Basketball Association team Talk N' Text Phone Pals as its import. He averaged 16 points in the 2006 PBA Fiesta Conference Playoffs. However, the Pals eventually lost to Air21 Express in the series, 2–3. In 2006, Ham served as a studio analyst for Fox Sports Southwest's coverage of the Dallas Mavericks' playoff run. He then became a member of the Orlando Magic summer league team in the Pepsi Pro Summer League from July 10–14, 2006. 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 NBA D-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 where he worked with Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, and Dwight Howard in a player development role. In 2013, he joined the Atlanta Hawks' coaching staff. Most recently, Ham and the coaching staff led the Atlanta Hawks to a divisional title and the number 1 seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. In June 2011, Ham traveled to Venezuela as a SportsUnited Sports Envoy for the U.S. Department of State. In this function, he worked with Kayte Christensen to conduct basketball clinics for 300 youth from underserved areas and met with Venezuelan sports officials. In so doing, Ham helped contribute to SportsUnited's mission to promote greater international understanding and inclusion through sport. He then followed up on these efforts and conducted a second set of clinics for more than 200 youth in Myanmar. This was the first State Department-sponsored sports exchange with Myanmar. In 2013, Ham signed with the Atlanta Hawks as an assistant coach. He helped the Hawks reach the playoffs in two consecutive seasons including making it to the Eastern Conference finals in 2015. Along with his help in bringing Atlanta to the playoffs, he also assisted the Atlanta Hawks starting five into 2015 NBA All-Stars. In 2018, he followed Mike Budenholzer to Milwaukee, where during the 2019-2020 season, Budenholzer won the NBA's Coach of the Year award. Ham helped lead the team to its best record since 1972.
Personal life
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 Tech. His son, Darvin Ham Jr., played for Northwood University and is currently an assistant coach as well, at Saginaw Valley State University.
