The Los Angeles Lakers had been in a tailspin since winning the NBA's inaugural in-season tournament. They have posted a 5-10 record since beating the Indiana Pacers in the tournament championship game on Dec. 9. During that stretch, chatter surrounding Darvin Ham‘s potential future as the Lakers coach have begun to swirl. The Lakers recently made a lineup change following a four-game losing streak that included moving starting point guard D'Angelo Russell to the bench. Ham consulted with both LeBron James and Anthony Davis who signed off on the plan to change the starting lineup as per Dave McMenamin of ESPN.

“The lineup change, sources told ESPN, was not a unilateral decision — Ham consulted with James and Davis on the concept — and its results were immediate: The Lakers beat the Thunder on Dec. 23, with James putting up a vintage 40 points and L.A. dishing a season-high 37 assists,” McMenamin reported.

Darvin Ham changing the Lakers starting lineup to consist of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Jarred Vanderbilt, Cam Reddish and Taurean Prince was designed to give the team a better look defensively as per McMenamin. Since the Lakers beat the Thunder on Dec. 23, they've gone 3-5 with recent back to back wins against the Los Angeles Clippers and Toronto Raptors.

Both James and Davis have been having top-notch seasons, but the team has struggled for the most part. Injuries have played a role in the poor season so far with key free agent signing Gabe Vincent sidelined for the majority of the season. The Lakers currently sit in 10th place in the Western Conference standings at 19-19.