Darvin Ham was finally introduced to the media as the new Los Angeles Lakers head coach on Monday night. The new head honcho of the Lakers will be tasked with getting the franchise back on track after a campaign that saw them finish with a 33-49 record, which wasn’t even good enough to land a spot in the play-in game.
Ham has previously had a pit stop with the Lakers as an assistant and his most recent spell as an assistant was with the Milwaukee Bucks, with whom he won a championship last year. He’ll be hoping for similar success with the Lakers, and in an interview with ESPN, he was asked about his approach to coaching.
Darvin Ham on his coaching philosophy of “Competitiveness. Togetherness and accountability.”
“That’s going to be our mantra…When we set this standard, we watch film, I have to be able to get on LeBron, get on Russ, get on AD just like when I’m ready to get on Austin Reaves.” pic.twitter.com/PuU5CgCLJ1
— Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) June 6, 2022
“Competitiveness. Togetherness and Accountability.”
“That’s going to be our mantra – competitiveness, togetherness, and accountability. That toughness everyone has been throwing around attached to my name well that’s just being competitive. Being competitive you have to be tough-minded, you have to be tough physically.”
“Togetherness, it’s a team sport. We can’t have each other be out on an island. A spread hand is weaker than a closed fist, when your fist is closed that means those five are together.”
“And Accountability, when we set this standard, we watch film, I have to be able to get on LeBron, get on Russ, get on AD, just like when I’m ready to get on Austin Reaves and Stanley Johnson and the like. It’s that accountability top to bottom, even as coaches, holding myself accountable…. that competitiveness, that togetherness and that accountability, I think you look at any championship organization regardless of the sport, you are going to find those 3 ingredients.”
Ham sure can talk the talk but we’ll soon see if he can walk the walk. Everything that he mentioned there would be a godsend for the Lakers after what transpired last season. They need someone with that approach to coaching, as the team didn’t feel like it was together last season and some of the big names weren’t being held accountable.
If Ham can successfully implement his philosophy on this team, then they might just get somewhere next season and if they do, he is going to be the toast of the town. His biggest challenge will be finding a way to get Russell Westbrook to fit with the rest of the roster on the court and he has been full of praise for Westbrook so far, calling him one of the best players the league has ever seen.
