Darvin Ham’s future with the Los Angeles Lakers appears to be in jeopardy following their first-round postseason exit. While many have criticized the second-year head coach – particularly for his rotations and lack of adjustments – Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green believes he should be back to lead the franchise for a third season.
Speaking on his self-titled podcast, the four-time NBA champion stated:
What’s going to happen with Darvin Ham?. I think it would be wrong to fire him. He’ll catch a lot of flack for the season that they had. I think that’s garbage. Their roster didn’t get better than last year, and they were a play-in team. [h/t Lakers Daily]
The Lakers did not make many major upgrades after last season’s Western Conference Finals run. Despite this, there was a belief that the roster continuity that they lacked last season would lead to an improvement. While stars Anthony Davis and LeBron James were relatively healthy, Los Angeles finished 47-35 and were once again in the play-in tournament. Ham’s future remains up-in-the-air heading into the offseason.
Darvin Ham ‘highly unlikely’ to return to Los Angeles Lakers
Despite leading at half-time in each game of the series, the Los Angeles Lakers saw their season come to an end at the hands of the Denver Nuggets for the second consecutive season. Shams Charania, Jovan Buha and Sam Amick of The Athletic reported that head coach Darvin Ham is unlikely to return. The trio wrote:
The Lakers’ unflattering finish leaves Ham’s future as head coach in serious peril, multiple league and team sources tell The Athletic, with some stakeholders indicating it’s highly unlikely he’ll return. The plan is to reassess everything that went wrong in the coming days before making a final decision. In 2022, Ham signed a four-year deal in the range of $5 million per season, so the team would be assuming the remainder of his deal if he is fired.
They noted that the front office felt the team was built for a deeper postseason run before adding:
Throughout the series and most of the season, however, team officials and players believe Ham’s fluctuating rotations, game plans and lack of adjustments led to an underperforming group. It created discontent within the locker room, which became palpable across the franchise. [h/t The Athletic]
Ham’s decision to bench D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves during a stretch in which Los Angeles lost 10 of 13 games was viewed as a key turning point in his tenure. Many within the organization reportedly believed he failed to consistently play their best players around Anthony Davis and LeBron James. It remains to be seen how the Lakers will address the position, if they do move on from Ham.
Thank you for reading The Dunk Central. Please follow us on Twitter for the latest news and insights on your favorite teams and players. It’s due to your support that we can become one of the market’s fastest-growing NBA outlets!
