The Los Angeles Lakers have been knocked out of the playoffs in the first round by the Denver Nuggets and unsurprisingly, some people are now being thrown under the bus. As per The Athletic, Lakers players had started losing faith in head coach Darvin Ham and his staff, all the way back in February during that memorable game against the Los Angeles Clippers.
“During this fourth quarter, in which James scored or assisted on 11 of the Lakers’ 13 field goals, seven weeks after the job security of second-year coach Darvin Ham had become a major storyline of their season, the irony of the Clippers’ ending wasn’t lost on several Lakers players. They had, in their minds, won the game on their own.”
“It had been one step forward, two steps back for the Lakers over the two-plus months since their In-Season Tournament championship. But this, as some players saw it, was a sign of the locker room coming together in an attempt to salvage a challenging situation with the head coach with whom they often didn’t connect. Their self-empowerment, it seemed, was born out of the perceived absence of effective direction from the coaching staff.”
LeBron James himself had also confirmed that he had vetoed Ham’s game plan against the Clippers. James was referring to the defensive end, however, as he decided they would no longer switch and he would guard Kawhi Leonard.
This report, meanwhile, points to a change in the offensive game plan that the players themselves put forth. The coaching staff had James go at Leonard, but the players saw that the Clippers were willing to switch big man Daniel Theis on him on screens.
They decided it was something they had to exploit and they did, to win the game 116-112 after being down 21 at one point. The report states that this Clippers game was one of many during the season where the players felt compelled to find solutions on their own. That is rather damning.
It had also been reported earlier this year that James overrode Ham’s plays during timeouts and team huddles. LeBron would call his own play and if that report was accurate, it shows just how little belief he had in his head coach.
Another indication of the players not holding the coaching staff in high regard came after Game 2 against the Nuggets. Anthony Davis took a shot at Ham by stating there were stretches where the players didn’t know what they were doing on both ends of the floor.
That was a brutal comment and Davis had to know just how bad of a look that was going to be on the coaching staff. Ham disagreed with Davis’ remark and thought the big man said it because he was just frustrated after losing a game. Not many saw it that way and it seemed to be just yet another indicator that all was not right between the players and their head coach.
The End Seems Near For Darvin Ham
Ham had come under fire for much of this campaign, with the Lakers not living up to pre-season expectations. The 50-year-old appeared to be making one too many changes with regard to lineups and rotations and it reportedly led to discontent brewing between the players and Ham.
He still managed to hold on to his job despite all the criticism and whatnot, but it appears now the end is near. As per The Athletic, Ham is highly unlikely to return as Lakers head coach next season. A final decision on his future is apparently said to be made in a few days, once the top brass reassesses everything that went wrong.
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