Ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers' matchup with the New York Knicks on Saturday night, Lakers head coach Darvin Ham finally responded publicly to LeBron James' cryptic hourglass tweet. Not surprisingly, the head coach defended his star's implied impatience.

“S–t, I would’ve put out two or three hourglass emojis by now,” Ham said at Madison Square Garden.

LeBron — who has a history of passive-aggressively calling attention to roster dissatisfaction in the run-up to the trade deadline – sent the tweet following the Lakers' loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday, their second noncompetitive showing in as many nights. (Before tip-off, Christian Wood possibly subtweeted Ham, though he said it was not basketball-related.)

On Thursday, the Lakers responded by shocking the Boston Celtics without LeBron and Anthony Davis. (Ham was not asked about LeBron's tweet).

“Very proud of our efforts in Boston,” LeBron said Saturday at morning shootaround in Manhattan. “The guys stepped up and played exceptional basketball. Beautiful to see. Beautiful to watch.”

Encouraging upset notwithstanding, 25-25 is not what anybody had in mind. Escaping the play-in zone seems out of reach. Jarred Vanderbilt's lower leg injury won't help matters (Ham said he's still being evaluated). The Lakers have to decide before the Feb. 8 deadline whether it's worth leveraging future assets to save this season or to chase a star over the summer and reload.

After declining to comment on his hourglass tweet, LeBron was asked about his overall confidence in the Lakers, in their current iteration.

“Well, honestly we took a big hit with Vando last game. Our team has always been constructed around how healthy we can be and how much chemistry we can put on the floor. So, obviously that's a big-time blow for us. But guys have to pick it up in his absence. If we can play some good basketball and string a couple wins together and not be so Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde on any given night, I think we'll be OK.”

LeBron declined to say whether he's committing to signing his $51 million player option for 2024-25.