It is no secret that the Los Angeles Lakers are digressing since the team won the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament. What has resulted in the sluggish nature of the team is the question about Lakers head coach Darvin Ham and his future with the organization. He spoke with the media after losing to the Memphis Grizzlies Friday night and said he is “tired of people living and dying with every single game we play.”
“This is the NBA, man. This is a marathon, and you have to look at the totality of the picture,” Ham said. “I’m tired of people living and dying with every single game we play. It’s ludicrous, actually. It’s like, ‘C’mon man, this is a marathon.’ And we hit a tough stretch.”
Since the aforementioned In-Season tournament where the Lakers won the NBA cup, the team has been 3-10. With the speculation about Ham's job security with Los Angeles, he was asked just about that and said it “comes with the territory” according to The Los Angeles Times.
“It comes with the territory. I’m solid,” Ham said. “My governor, Jeanie Buss, the boss lady; our president, Robert Pelinka — we’re all aligned. As long as they’re not saying it, I guess I’m good. Which I know how they feel about me and the situation we’re currently in. So, we’re all on the same page. My two captains, I communicate with them. Our communication has been at a high level.”
Ham talks about reports that he's losing Lakers locker room
There have been a numerous amount of reports about Ham and his relationship with the locker room being at an all-time low. One of these was a report from The Athletic where they had six unnamed sources talking about the “disconnect,” but Ham seemingly does not trust these reports.
“It’s just, the one thing that’s crazy is that it reminds me of when I used to watch ’60 Minutes’ with my father in the ‘80s,” Ham said. “And one particular show they were talking about La Cosa Nostra and the mafia and these guys were starting to go to trial and their star witness shows up with a black potato sack over his head and shades. And due to fear, the name can’t really be released.
Lakers head coach talks about the “standard of reporting in NBA”
Ham spoke openly about different reports, especially the ones with anonymous sources and wished people would “stand on what they're saying.” The head coach for the Lakers was very candid in his response while also not wanting to “disrespect anybody in the room” who is a part of the media that covers the NBA and basketball in general.
“And so this seems to be the standard of reporting now for NBA,” Ham said. “People on the internet and whatever. And not all reporters — I don’t want to disrespect anybody in the room — but when you say the source is anonymous by choice and they don’t want to put their name on something, but they want to give you the information and then you take the information and now everybody gets a chance to dissect it and spread it all out in their own way, it’s kind of disingenuous. And I wish we would get to a place where people are firm enough to stand on what they’re saying and then maybe we can have real dialogue and get to it.”
Ham says he has “always invited feedback”
Ham made sure to express that criticism is absolutely wanted and warranted in terms of the way they have been playing as of recent. One player who has been adamantly open about the performance from the Lakers has been superstar LeBron James who plainly said “We just suck right now.”
“You know, for me, it’s the film and really being efficient with that, being efficient with when we’re able to step on the floor and really pinpointing the things that we need to work on, just being sharper,” Ham said. “And I’ve always invited feedback and participation from my staff members, really hearing their voices, along with mine. Obviously, I have to make the final decision on things from a coaching standpoint, but really, everyone’s seen. Just taking in what everyone is seeing.”
Whether the Lakers make a change at head coach is still up in the air, but both sides of the aisle will keep debating whether Ham is a good fit or not. If there is one bright side to it, it is still fairly early into the season as Los Angeles is 17-19 on the season which puts them at eleventh in the Western Conference. Their next game will be against the Los Angeles Clippers Saturday night.
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