NBA Rumors: Key contender emerges for LA Lakers coaching job, anonymous sources say "He's the guy LeBron wants"

The LA Lakers are in the midst of a search for a new head coach following a disappointing season with Frank Vogel. Having been eliminated from playoff contention, the Purple and Gold fired their championship-winning head coach on April 11. Since then, the team has interviewed many prospective candidates to fill in the role.

According to recent reports, Darvin Ham, Kenny Atkinson and Terry Stotts are the finalists and one among the three will definitely take over the reins as the head coach of the LA Lakers. A competing source told Eric Pinus of Bleacher Report that Darvin Ham is the candidate LeBron wants as the team's head coach.

The 37-year-old is one of the most reputed players in the league and it is no secret to anyone that he is involved in all the big decisions the franchise makes. The LA Lakers have not had a great season and nobody is more disappointed about this than LeBron James. With not a lot of time left in his career, he would certainly be gunning to win another championship. That make choosing the right head coach an important decision for him.

In her most recent interview with the LA Times, Jeanie Buss cleared the air around the whole situation where people would criticize her for involving LeBron James in all the major decisions. However, the president of the LA Lakers stated that she had no problem involving the four-time NBA champion in major decisions as that was smart business according to her.

If reports have suggested that Darvin Ham is the choice of LeBron James, the LA Lakers will most definitely respect the same. He is an assistant coach with the Milwaukee Bucks and has been pivotal in making them a force to be reckoned with in the league.

Atkinson and Stotts are also reputed figures in the league, but the purple and gold would have to consider Ham as the ideal choice because he already has the backing of the team leader.

Would Darvin Ham be an ideal fit with the LA Lakers?

Darwin Ham alongside Khris Middleton during the Milwaukee Bucks v Charlotte Hornets regular season game

Darvin Ham has never been a head coach in the NBA, but he has worked with some of the best players in the league. He was a part of the Detroit Pistons team that won the championship in 2004. His playing career lasted only 12 years, after which he decided to take up an assistant coaching job with the Thunderbirds, who are a G-League affiliate team of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

He was a head coach there for one season, after which the LA Lakers came calling. Ham was an assistant coach of the Purple and Gold for two seasons. While he was there he worked with greats like Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Dwight Howard and Steve Nash. He did a great job and then decided to move to the Atlanta Hawks in 2013.

The Hawks were a side that had not been relevant for quite some time, but under the leadership of Mike Budenholzer, they finished first in the East in 2015. Darvin Ham played a big role in their brilliant run, but after three years, he decided to go to the Milwaukee Bucks along with Budenholzer.

Ham's spell in Milwaukee was special to him as he was a former player there and shared a special connection with the fans. The 48-year-old had already developed a great reputation across the league. Having been an active part of the coaching staff that helped the Bucks to their first NBA championship in 50 years, definitely brought him under a lot of notice.

Ham has the experience of coaching star players like Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton. Having already been a part of the LA Lakers previously, he is also well acquainted with the expectations of the franchise.

With coaches like Ime Udoka and Monty Williams having proven their abilities as head coaches coming off assistant coaching jobs, there is no reason to think as to why the Darwin Ham experiment would fail for the LA Lakers.