The Los Angeles Lakers registered an impressive 127-110 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night, but an incident in the third quarter raised some eyebrows. After the Mavericks called for a timeout, Austin Reaves appeared to ignore head coach Darvin Ham.
Reaves doesn’t fuck with Darvin at all 💀 pic.twitter.com/iebpVPhRuv
— Bdub (@therealbdub_) January 18, 2024
Reaves paid absolutely no attention to Ham, who was trying to congratulate him on a great sequence. The 25-year-old had stolen the ball from Tim Hardaway Jr. and then lobbed it to Taurean Prince for a layup that put the Lakers up 79-64.
Reaves walked past Ham to dap up Prince and then did the same with one of the assistants, but not the head coach. We can’t say for sure, of course, that the guard has a problem with Ham, but this incident certainly leads to some questions about their relationship.
Ham had Reaves come off the bench for a significant chunk of this 2023-24 season and it was only recently that he was put back into the starting lineup. Could that benching have caused some kind of an issue? Only Reaves can answer that question.
Reaves did say he didn’t have an issue with being benched, as winning was all that mattered to him. Well, the team wasn’t winning as such when he was coming off the bench, but he hasn’t publicly said anything that might come across as a shot at his head coach.
Lakers Fans React To Austin Reaves Ignoring Darvin Ham
The video of Reaves ignoring Ham went viral on social media and Lakers fans believe the former has some sort of an issue with the latter.
One said he would have been mad too if he had been benched for Cam Reddish.
I’d be mad too if I was benched for cam reddish 💀
— zaiire 💫 (@_zaiire_) January 18, 2024
A fan felt second-hand embarrassment watching this.
The second hand embarrassment I just got for Darvin 😭😭
— G-D (@G__J__D) January 18, 2024
One believes that Reaves knows Ham is responsible for him being in trade talks.
Because he knows Darvins awful rotations are why he's even in trade talks.
— Q_e_w (@Q_e_w) January 18, 2024
A fan doesn’t blame Reaves for ignoring Ham.
Don’t blame him
— Andre (@Dre_GreyLife) January 18, 2024
A fan hopes that Ham gets fired soon.
Hopefully they fire Ham already too man
— George Middleton (@george51391) January 18, 2024
It’s safe to say Ham is not a popular figure among the fanbase at the moment, and that was inevitable, really, with how the Lakers have underwhelmed this season. This win over the Mavericks improved them to 21-21 in 2023-24, and LA is well off of where it was expected to be.
As for Reaves, he had 14 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assists, and 1 steal in the contest. The guard hasn’t quite taken the leap this season as some had expected, which has led to talk about whether he should be shipped out of town. The Lakers, though, are not interested in trading Reaves.
There Is Reportedly A Deepening Disconnect Between Ham And Lakers Players
What gives credence to the notion that Reaves might have an issue of some sort with his head coach is a report that came out earlier this month. NBA insider Shams Charania stated there is a deepening disconnect between Ham and the Lakers locker room.
It stemmed from how Ham had chopped and changed the rotations and the starting lineup a bit too much this season. The 50-year-old is desperately trying to find the right combination that can lead to success, but because of that, the roster just hasn’t gelled well together on the court.
What appears to be saving Ham is that Lakers governor Jeanie Buss still supports him. How long does that last, though, is the question.
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