Milwaukee Bucks Introduce Assistant Coaching Staff for 2024-25 Season

Team hires Darvin Ham and Greg Buckner who join Dave Joerger, Rex Kalamian, Joe Prunty, Vin Baker and Pete Dominguez as assistant coaches 

— Jack Herum promoted to assistant coach/head of player development; Jason Love and Spencer Rivers appointed for assistant coach/player development roles —

MILWAUKEE (July 8, 2024) – The Milwaukee Bucks have completed their assistant coaching staff for the 2024-25 season by hiring Darvin Ham and Greg Buckner and retaining Dave Joerger, Rex Kalamian, Joe Prunty, Vin Baker and Pete Dominguez as assistant coaches on head coach Doc Rivers’ staff. Jack Herum has been promoted to assistant coach/head of player development while Jason Love and Spencer Rivers have been appointed for assistant coach/player development roles.

Ham returns to the Bucks after serving as an assistant coach with the organization from 2018-22 where he was part of the coaching staff that won the 2021 NBA Championship. He spent the past two seasons as the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, posting a 90-74 (.549) regular season record while leading the franchise to the playoffs both seasons, including a trip to the Western Conference Finals in 2023.

Ham’s NBA coaching experience also includes stops as an assistant coach with the Atlanta Hawks (2013-18) and Lakers (2011-13). In his 13 seasons as an assistant and head coach in the NBA, he has reached the playoffs 12 times, which includes four trips to the Conference Finals.

A graduate of Texas Tech, Ham played eight seasons in the NBA, appearing in 417 career games with Denver, Indiana, Washington, Atlanta, Milwaukee and Detroit, where the Michigan native won the 2004 NBA Championship with the Pistons. Ham began his coaching career in 2008 with the New Mexico Thunderbirds of the then NBA Development League.

Buckner joins the Bucks after spending the past four seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he served as an assistant coach from 2020-22 before being promoted to associate head coach ahead of the 2022-23 season. Prior to joining the Cavaliers, he served as an assistant coach with the Memphis Grizzlies for the 2018-19 season and spent five seasons with the Houston Rockets as a player development coach (2011-16) and assistant coach (2014-16). The Kentucky native and Clemson product played in 570 career games across 10 seasons in the NBA with Dallas, Philadelphia, Denver, Minnesota and Memphis between 1999-09.

Hired by the Bucks in January of last season, Joerger spent three seasons as an assistant coach on Rivers’ staff with the 76ers from 2020-23. Prior to his time in Philadelphia, he was the head coach of the Sacramento Kings from 2016-19 and of the Grizzlies from 2013-16, reaching the playoffs in all three seasons with Memphis. His NBA coaching career began as an assistant with the Grizzlies from 2007-13 after a successful minor-league coaching career that included five championships, two Coach of the Year awards and a 232-117 (.665) record while working as a head coach in the International Basketball Association, Continental Basketball Association and the NBA Development League.

Kalamian joined the Bucks as an assistant coach in January of last season after beginning the season as a personnel scout with Brooklyn. He’s served as an assistant coach in the NBA for a number of seasons, including under Rivers with the Clippers from 2018-20. His other stops as an assistant coach in the NBA include with the Pistons, Kings, Raptors, Thunder, Timberwolves and Nuggets after getting his start in the NBA as an assistant coach with the Clippers in 1995. An Armenian-American, Kalamian has also served as the head coach of the Armenian men’s national team since January of 2022.

Prunty is entering his sixth season as an assistant coach with the Bucks, joining the organization prior to the 2023-24 season after also working with the team from 2014-18. Last season, Prunty served as acting head coach for Milwaukee for three games, posting a 2-1 record, and also had a stint as interim head coach for the final 37 games of the 2017-18 season, where he led the Bucks to a 21-16 finish and a spot in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. A native of California, the 2024-25 season will be Prunty’s 28th season in the NBA, which includes time with the Hawks, Suns, Nets, Cavaliers, Trail Blazers, Mavericks and Spurs. In nine seasons with San Antonio from 1996-05, Prunty won three NBA Championships in 1999, 2003 and 2005 and was also part of the Mavericks’ coaching staff that reached the NBA Finals in 2006.

A former Buck and NBA All-Star, Baker returns for his eighth season as an assistant coach with the Bucks. Baker, who was part of the coaching staff that won the 2021 NBA Championship, has reached the playoffs in all eight of his seasons as an assistant coach with Milwaukee. He started with the Bucks as an assistant coach in January of the 2018-19 season after beginning his coaching career with the Texas Legends of the NBA Development League in 2016.

A four-time NBA All-Star and two-time All-NBA honoree, Baker played the first four seasons of his NBA career with the Bucks, who selected him with the eighth overall pick in the 1993 NBA Draft. The University of Hartford’s all-time leading scorer, Baker played in 604 games with Milwaukee, Seattle, Boston, New York, Houston and the LA Clippers in his NBA career and was also part of the USA men’s national team that took home the gold medal during the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.

Hired by the Bucks in February of last season, Dominguez begins his first full season as an assistant coach in the NBA. A graduate of San Francisco State University, Dominguez also worked under Rivers as a coaching associate with the 76ers from 2020-23 and as head video coordinator for the Clippers from 2018-20. He started the 2023-24 season as the head coach of Obras Sanitarias, which competes in the Argentine National Basketball League, before joining Milwaukee as an assistant coach. Dominguez also serves as the lead assistant coach under Kalamian for the Armenian men’s national team.

Herum is entering his sixth season with the Bucks organization, serving in several roles with the Bucks and Wisconsin Herd over the past five seasons. Last season, the River Falls, Wisconsin, native served as the Bucks player development coordinator. Herum got his start in the organization as a player development coach with the Herd in 2019 before being promoted to player development and video assistant with the Bucks in 2020.

Prior to joining the Bucks, Herum worked as a graduate assistant for the University of Minnesota-Duluth men’s basketball team from 2016-18 and was an assistant coach at IMG Academy in Florida for the 2018-19 season. He played three seasons at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and two seasons at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, where he graduated in 2016.

Love joins the Bucks after spending the past five seasons with the 76ers. A Pennsylvania native, Love joined the 76ers in 2019 as a player development associate before being promoted to skills development coach in 2021. After playing at Xavier University from 2006-10, Love played professionally from 2011-18 in Belgium, Israel, Turkey, Ukraine and Argentina. His coaching career began in 2018 when he served as a graduate assistant coach for the University of Louisville men’s basketball team.

Rivers comes to Milwaukee after serving as an assistant coach/player development for the Pistons during the 2023-24 season. Prior to joining the Pistons, he spent three seasons as a player development coach for the 76ers from 2020-23. Rivers, a Florida native, spent five seasons (2014-19) as a member of the UC Irvine men’s basketball team, appearing in 76 games.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.