Former Lakers coach Darvin Ham was run out of town after the disastrous 2023-24 NBA season. Ever since his departure, Ham’s coaching abilities were up for debate, and that was before one of his former players (Patrick Beverley) confirmed that he was not effective in the role.
“He’s huge in motivation. Things don’t work, let’s not try to find another course to make it work, let’s make it f**king work,” said Beverley on his podcast. “As a coach, that s*** don’t work. Motherf***ers ain’t here for no motivation. What’s them X’s and O’s?”
Darvin Ham was JJ Redick’s predecessor but his tenure in the locker room was relatively short-lived. Hired in June of 2022 to replace Frank Vogel, Ham believed in building a strong relationship with his players and he often resorted to motivational speeches over creating a practical and effective gameplan for his players.
Famously, Ham once used his entire clipboard to write ‘Contest without fouling’ as he spent the timeout to give his team another motivational speech. During the lowest points of Ham’s tenure, Anthony Davis called him out and put the whole coaching staff on blast for not having the team prepared with a viable gameplan.
It’s no wonder why the Lakers struggled for most of the Darvin Ham era, and Patrick Beverley was there to witness much of it as one of the leading point guards for a stretch.
Beverley, 36, has been a bit of an NBA journeyman throughout his career. Since 2012, he has played with seven different teams, posting career averages of 8.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game. Pat played just 45 games for the Lakers in the 2022-23 campaign but he became a personal favorite of Darvin Ham.
Despite averaging 26.9 minutes per game in 45 starts under Ham, Beverley knew that he wasn’t cut out for the job. After a miserable season, where the Lakers lost in the first round to Denver, Ham was officially relieved of his coaching duties and he went on to accept an assistant coaching role with the Bucks.
After an extensive search, which involved getting rejected by UCONN Men’s coach Dan Hurley, the Lakers finally found their man: former NBA sharpshooter JJ Redick. There was much skepticism about Redick at first, but he’s proven to be a massive upgrade over Darvin.
The vibe this year is completely different with Redick in charge. While Redick can often be seen making motivational speeches, he’s more often than not helping his team make and execute plays on the floor. Compared to Ham, Redick seems to have a much more strategic view of the game and the Lakers have been much better at adapting their approach for specific matchups and scenarios.
Coaching isn’t everything in the NBA and ultimately it falls on the players to put in the effort and attention to detail required to properly execute plays on the floor. In the case of Redick, however, he’s empowering this Lakers team to an impressive level. It’s clear now that Darvin Ham was holding the Lakers back and even his former players are openly admitting it.
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