When things click for the Lakers — when they get some perimeter defense and the 3-pointers fall — they look good. Like they did Sunday in beating the Clippers or winning the In-Season Tournament last month.
However, “good” has been the peak — and that’s not high enough for the expectations of the franchise and fans. And when things don’t click for the Lakers, well, we get most of this season. The Lakers are a game blow .500 with a solid defense but not elite defense (10th in the league when garbage time minutes are removed) and an offense in the bottom 10 in the NBA. The Lakers don’t look like a threat in the West.
That has brought heat on coach Darvin Ham, with reports of him possibly losing the locker room. His rotations are understandably unpopular, however, is his job really in jeopardy mid-season? Maybe not because he has the most important Laker fan — team governor/co-owner Jeanie Buss — in his corner, reports Sam Amick at The Athletic.
“I told you, man, I’m just thankful that I’ve got that support from Jeanie, with her always encouraging me, asking me ‘What do I need? Is everything great?’” said Ham...
Unlike the [Frank] Vogel situation, where Buss was known to believe the former coach was largely to blame for the failed integration of Russell Westbrook and ultimately greenlighted his April 2022 firing as a result, all signs point to the Lakers’ most important decision-maker standing by the coach, who is in the second year of a four-year deal. There’s a mutual respect in that relationship, one that resulted in Buss sending a lengthy text message of support to Ham in the wake of Thursday’s report in The Athletic that chronicled the rising pressure that surrounds him. Buss could certainly change her stance, of course, but the current state of affairs suggests Ham still has time to turn this around.
If Ham ultimately is let go, everything points to more of an off-season move rather than a mid-season one, which is fitting with the Lakers’ patient history.
How many of the Lakers’ issues fall at the feet of Ham, or is he just the low-hanging fruit for frustrated fans? It was thought the Lakers had a strong offseason, but much of what was expected has not panned out with the players, and that’s not all on Ham.
When changing a coach mid-season, the first question becomes: Who do you have lined up who is better? Is there someone who instantly improves the team when they walk through the door, without a training camp or much time to install a new system? (And no Lakers fans, the answer isn’t “anyone.”) Assistant coach Phil Handy — the most mentioned possible replacement — is beloved around the league, but is another player-popular first-time head coach the upgrade the Lakers need? Does Los Angeles want to get in the Doc Rivers business?
Ham is more of a motivator and a coach with a reputation for pulling the best out of guys, he is not considered an elite Xs and Os tactician. However, an elite Xs and O’s coach isn’t suddenly going to make Gabe Vincent healthy and playing like he did last postseason, nor will he make Cam Reddish a shooter or solve the problem that the Lakers struggle to find three guys that work next to LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Ham’s critics can point to the poor execution by the Lakers in their recent slump, or the fact that Ham himself admitted before the Clippers game his team needs to be “flat-out playing hard” (something that has been inconsistent). Ham’s rotation choices can be odd. Those issues are valid, but some of that falls on the players — this is a team of professionals, players are cashing checks and shouldn’t need a college “rah-rah” style coach to fire them up nightly.
Ham is steady through the up-and-down marathon of an NBA season, and the Lakers as an organization have rarely been rash. Barring an utter collapse in the coming month, Ham isn’t going anywhere. At least not until this summer, when the organization takes a step back, sees what went wrong, and charts a new course (LeBron can be a free agent after this season, that factors into things).
If Buss is in Ham’s corner, that’s not where changes will be coming from short term.
