Scotty Pippen Jr. spoke after his strong performance in the Grizzlies‘ 122-99 upset win over the Bucks. He noted that his defensive effort on the floor was motivated by an unnamed coach on the Bucks who had doubted his defensive abilities, and he wanted to prove them wrong. Many presumed that Pippen Jr. was taking aim at Darvin Ham, who was Pippen Jr.’s head coach on the Lakers.
“I definitely took that match-up personally. I grew up watching Dame [Lillard] a lot. And one of the coaches over there [Bucks] didn’t believe in me, so I had to show him that I could play defense…”
Scotty Pippen Jr. was a two-way player on the Lakers during the 2022-23 NBA season. But he didn’t do much to impress Darvin Ham to warrant more minutes with the main team. Pippen spent much of his time with the Lakers’ G-League unit and was waived the following year by the Lakers.
One can imagine that Ham’s critiques of Pippen Jr. were what led to him getting waived by the Lakers. While things may have gotten difficult for Pippen Jr., he was able to bounce back, signing a two-way contract with the Memphis Grizzlies in January of this year, and impressing officials on the team during that time.
His performances in the NBA Summer League were very impressive and may have earned him a standard 4-year contract with the Grizzlies going forward. It is good to see that Scotty Pippen Jr. didn’t let a negative experience with an NBA coach derail his game, and worked hard to land a guaranteed spot on a roster.
Pippen Jr. has been able to elevate his game to a new level, as he has started the season averaging 10.8 points, 6.3 assists, 3.0 rebounds, 1.3 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game. Last night’s game marked another solid performance from Pippen Jr., with 16 points, three rebounds, one assist, and one steal, shooting 5-8 from the field, 1-3 from beyond the arc, and 5-5 from the free-throw line.
Darvin Ham has drawn criticisms, direct and indirect, from numerous members of the Lakers, especially since he was replaced by first-time head coach JJ Redick, who has impressed in his tenure with the team so far.
Darvin Ham Defends Time With Lakers
Both Lakers fans and players have taken plenty of jabs at Darvin Ham in the past few months. Most recently, Rui Hachimura took aim at Ham in the wake of Anthony Davis’ incredible start to the NBA season. And it was revealed that the players on the Lakers reportedly hated playing under his coaching.
But Ham is still proud of the work he did as Lakers head coach, insisting that he improved the team compared to where they were before he arrived under Frank Vogel. Even Doc Rivers, who recruited Ham to the Bucks as an assistant coach, slammed the Lakers for firing Ham after he had taken them to a Western Conference Finals.
In theory, yes, Ham did improve the Lakers compared to where they were before his arrival. But it should be remembered that the Lakers were stuck with Russell Westbrook, who was a bad fit for them, for a good chunk of his first season with the Lakers, and had he not been traded, he would have missed the playoffs with the Lakers just like they had under Frank Vogel.
Under Ham, the Lakers had a record of 90-74 across two seasons, barely over .500 in both years and just good enough to make the play-in tournament in both campaigns.
So while Ham can insist that he improved the team, it is very clear that his best results as a coach came when he didn’t make many decisions for the team. In fact, when he began micromanaging, changing lineups, and altering rotations, the Lakers suffered for it.
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