Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers made his first hire of the offseason in bringing back former player and assistant coach Darvin Ham, the Journal Sentinel confirmed.

Ham, 50, was an assistant coach under Mike Budenholzer from 2018-22 before taking over as the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers for the 2022-23 season. He led the Lakers to the Western Conference finals in his first year and the inaugural In-Season Tournament championship this season before being fired May 3.

Ham had two years at about $5 million annually left on his Lakers contract.

ESPN first reported the move. Rivers, hired on Jan. 26 to replace Adrian Griffin, dismissed four assistant coaches from Griffin's staff and hired three of his own.

In Ham's first head coaching job, the Lakers went 90-74 (54.9%) in the regular season and 9-12 in the playoffs. They were eliminated in five games in the first round by Denver, leading to his dismissal.

His coaching career began in Los Angeles in 2011-12 under Mike Brown, and then he joined Budenholzer in Atlanta in 2013-14.

Ham was an important voice on the Bucks coaching staff during his coaching tenure, including during the 2020-21 championship season.

He played for the Bucks from 1999-2002 and was part of the 2001 team that reached the Eastern Conference finals under George Karl. After being undrafted out of Texas Tech, Ham played eight seasons in the NBA for six teams.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bucks re-hire Darvin Ham as assistant after his two years with Lakers