Since the departure of Phil Jackson years ago, the Los Angeles Lakers have struggled to find a long-term coaching fit. Cycling from Mike D’Antoni to Bryon Scott to Luke Walton, the Lakers were changing coaches every other year before finally achieving a breakthrough with Frank Vogel. But even after a championship run with Vogel, he was canned in 2022 for reasons recently made clear by league insider Sam Amick.
“Buss was known to believe the former coach was largely to blame for the failed integration of Russell Westbrook and ultimately greenlighted his April 2022 firing as a result,” wrote Amick, via The Athletic.
Vogel should have earned the ultimate job security after winning the title in 2020, but the Lakers showed the world that even championship coaches are subject to dismissal. This season, Darvin Ham is facing much of the same pressure as Vogel did toward the end of his tenure, but Ham’s current relationship with Jeanie differs in many ways and it’s what separates him from the ones who came before him.
Vogel To Blame?
Frank Vogel’s defensive identity helped the Lakers win a lot of games up until the 2021-22 season. Leading up to opening night, the Lakers made a risky trade by offloading some of their role-players in a deal for Russell Westbrook. Even at the time, it was a move that was widely criticized by fans and analysts, who doubted Westbrook’s fit on a Lakers team that needed shooters and defenders over then ball-heavy isolation players.
Nevertheless, the Lakers were expected to compete, and when they fell flat out of the gate, everyone knew that changes were inevitable. Now, we know that Jeanie Buss blamed primarily Vogel for Westbrook’s struggles and it’s why the Lakers replaced him with Darvin Ham, who was strongly pro-Westbrook when he started the job. Since firing Vogel, the Lakers have not returned to the NBA Finals and are once again fighting to avoid the play-in despite a healthy season from LeBron James and Anthony Davis. As for Westbrook, his Lakers tenure reached an all-time low under Darvin Ham and it was just a few months later that the Lakers admitted defeat and sent him in a package for D’Angelo Russell.
Ham On The Hot Seat
There is no denying that pressure is building for Darvin Ham, who can’t seem to find any stability with this Lakers team. Even so, you shouldn’t hold your breath on the chances of him being fired anytime soon. Ham earned a lot of grace after leading the Lakers to the Conference Finals last season and his relationship with Jeanie Buss means that he’s unlikely to get blamed when things go wrong.
This season, even amid all the disappointment, Jeanie remains committed to Darvin in a way that she wasn’t to Vogel, at least not toward the end. Instead, the Lakers will likely be looking to change the roster, starting with former lottery pick, D’Angelo Russell. If Rob Pelinka can package him and some other young player in a deal for a win-now perimeter player it will be all the Lakers need to turn the season around. At the very least, it means there will be no more excuses for Darvin Ham, who still has to prove himself as a long-term fit for the franchise.
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