Why did Darvin Ham ask Milwaukee not to celebrate the NBA Cup with champagne?

Doc Rivers and Darvin Ham’s Milwaukee Bucks won the second edition of the Emirates NBA Cup with a 97-81 victory over the OKC Thunder tonight in Las Vegasbecoming the first Eastern Conference team to lift the trophy.

Darvin Ham is now 14-0 in NBA Cup play, after leading the Los Angeles Lakers to victory last year as head coach. After their second consecutive NBA Cup victory, Ham told Doc Rivers to ask the team to forgo the champagne celebrations in the locker room to stay focused on the rest of the season after last year’s experience with the Lakers.

“Bucks coach Doc Rivers told me that after talking to Darvin Ham and his experience with the Lakers last season, they chose not to celebrate the NBA Cup with watering and drinking champagne. They want to focus on the rest of the season.”

The insinuation that the NBA Cup win fulfilled the Lakers’ expectations for a successful season is quite strong. It could be a comment on the fact that the Lakers went through a month-long slump after winning the NBA Cup, which required a major late-season effort to overcome.

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