In a chat on his podcast, NBA veteran Patrick Beverley looked back on a conversation he had with former Lakers coach Darvin Ham. According to Pat, Darvin approached him in Las Vegas and apologized for some of his choices while he was running the locker room.
“I’m in Vegas, I’m gambling and I see Coach Ham walk past. Mind you I ain’t seen coach Ham on a personal level since I left the Lakers,” said Beverley on the podcast. “Coach Ham come up to me, I don’t know his move. He’s like ‘Can I get five minutes? I just want to let you know Pat, I apologize… ‘ Oh sh*t, you know as a coach you’re never supposed to apologize. The decision you make is the decision you make. He says ‘I apologize Pat, you was right. Need to practice more. F*ck that. We need to do more. Can’t just win off talent.’ He had a lot on his plate as a first-year coach — you got Russ, you got AD, LeBron… he’s not gonna listen to Pat Beverley.”
It takes a lot for a coach to admit when he was wrong. Respect 🫡 pic.twitter.com/dUkigtFIyC
— Pat Bev Pod (@PatBevPod) August 15, 2024
There was a point last season when Beverley, a 12-year veteran, was pushing the Lakers to practice more in order to build chemistry and correct some of their bad habits. Instead, Darvin Ham elected to operate on a light practice schedule to preserve health and energy for the real games.
Ham, 51, served as an assistant for years with the Lakers and the Bucks before being hired for the head coaching position in 2022. He was brought in to help the Lakers heal after a disastrous season with Russell Westbrook and former coach Frank Vogel, who was running the show during their championship win in 2020.
In the 2020-21 campaign, the Lakers finished 7th in the West and lost in the first round to Devin Booker, Chris Paul, and the Phoenix Suns. The following season was even worse for the Lakers. In Vogel’s final campaign with the franchise, they finished 11th in the West with a 33-49 record. Sadly, things did not improve much under Darvin Ham.
When he took over, the Lakers continued their downward spiral, which eventually led to the departure of Russell Westbrook in February of 2023. Besides a stretch in the 2023 playoffs, where the Lakers went to the West Finals, they’ve struggled to keep pace with the elite teams and Darvin Ham became the scapegoat for their failures.
As a coach, Ham faced constant doubt from the fans, who complained about his rotations and play calls. Behind the scenes and even in front of the media, Lakers players expressed concern over how Darvin ran the team and Anthony Davis even famously admitted that he and his teammates often felt they were clueless on the court.
Ham is no longer a head coach in the league but he’s still coaching as an assistant for the Bucks. Clearly, he has some regrets over his coaching strategies with the Purple and Gold but he was humble enough to admit them and even apologized for his shortcomings.
Had Darvin done things differently, or taken the advice of his own players, maybe his Lakers stint would have turned out differently and he’d still be there today. But there’s no going back on it now, and JJ Redick is the only one who can set things right.
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