The date is January 31, less than two months away from the Los Angeles Lakers’ first NBA Cup championship, and the Lakers are in a steep nosedive, posting loss after loss in late December and into January. In a competitive Western Conference, a sub-500 score, even for just a few games, simply won’t be enough for a championship hopeful. And the team has every right to be among those hopefuls, buoyed by a shockingly healthy tandem of a newly 39-year-old LeBron James and injury-prone big man Anthony Davis, who have missed a total of eight times so far. games and playing at an All-NBA level. But something is clearly not working, and time is of the essence. No one knows this better than the enemy of father time himself, LeBron: that night, after another demoralizing loss, he simply tweets: an hourglass. A single emoji has never been so big.
At that moment, there is frantic speculation about what or to whom the primitive timepiece refers. Is it James’ underperforming supporting cast with the trade deadline hovering in the near future? Is it the Lakers’ front office, who are no doubt aware of his player option in the upcoming offseason? Is it his own NBA mortality, which he met admitted that he will probably succumb sooner or laterdespite there being no significant drop in production?
All of these factors likely came into play when James sat down at his keyboard in frustration. The Lakers’ early exit from the playoffs on Monday, again at the hands of Nikola Jokić’s Denver Nuggets, understandably raises the question of whether the hourglass has indeed run out on James’ championship window — or on his time with the Lakers franchise in the general . But in retrospect, it’s likely that another factor provoked the irritated response more than any other: Lakers head coach Darvin Ham, who was fired Friday despite having two years left on his contract.
As the Lakers’ offseason unfolded, the clouds of team-generated positive spin that dampened the NBA season began to disperse, and the behind-the-scenes drama they were hiding quickly became visible. As it turned out, James was far from the only one frustrated by Cham’s tenure at the helm. Those were the rifts deep and abundant, which started way back in last season, and the writing was apparently on the wall for months. So where did Darvin Ham’s time with the organization go wrong?
Much has been made of the fact that Ham, a baritone, Michigan native and NBA veteran, was hired more for his people skills than his clipboard skills. He built a reputation as a great locker room type on Mike Budenholzer’s championship-winning Milwaukee Bucks staff, but was never exactly known as a master tactician. When the Lakers brought him in for his first-ever head coaching opportunity ahead of the 2022-2023 season, the thinking was that a coach with true basketball genius LeBron James as his best player might not necessarily have to be an Xs-and-Os. magician. However, he needed to be able to galvanize his troops and manage personalities well (especially since they decided to try another season on polarizing guard Russell Westbrook, even though that saw them jump ship at the 2023 trade deadline).
There were some complaints here and there in his first season, mainly about rotations (such as his aptitude for three-guard lineups regardless of opponent size). But for the most part, any coaching doubts were quelled by the Lakers and Cinderella’s miraculous turnaround to the conference finals. However, losing the trust of your players as a coach hired for your personal skills is akin to the kiss of death – and Ham’s second year was rocky almost from the starting blocks.
That’s when the truly baffling rotation decisions started and the splits ensued. When presumptive starter Jarred Vanderbilt was sidelined before the start of the season with right heel bursitis, he was not replaced in the opening night starting lineup by forward Rui Hachimura — a key acquisition for the Lakers last spring and their fourth-highest paid player — but with Taurean Prince, an almost minimal addition who had played largely off the bench in Minnesota. Prince would start nearly 50 games for the team, amassing a career-worst plus/minus for the team.
Then there was Austin Reaves, who entered the season as perhaps the Lakers’ third most important player, played a major role in the conference finals and had also signed a significant contract extension in the offseason. Fresh off not only the deep playoff run, but a summer with Team USA, fatigue seemed to affect Reaves in October as he battled through a shooting slump. He was moved to the couch eight games into the season, replaced by minimal journeyman Cam Reddish. While Reaves took charge of the ‘non-relegation’ (Ham’s words), this move left those behind the scenes baffled, and it was clear to those around them that the relationship between player and coach was never going to recover .
The losing streak temporarily ended, the team caught fire and ultimately won the first NBA In-Season Tournament. But the Lakers almost immediately started losing again. Starting point guard D’Angelo Russell was also moved to the bench during this period. All told, the Lakers went through six starting lineups during a period in which they lost 10 of 13 games and lost crucial ground in a crowded West. None of the players seemed to know what to expect on any given night, and the roles were blurry. The noise started to get loud in the locker room. The sadness was palpable. Sources close to the organization point to this moment when Ham really started to lose the rope.
None of the aforementioned starting lineups were those from their playoff run a year earlier (although the team retained all five players): James, Reaves, Davis, Russell and Hachimura, which would eventually be returned to, perhaps too late, in time. to go 19-6 in another scratch-and-claw climb to No. 7, colliding head-on with their ultimate foils in the Nuggets. Denver would eliminate the Lakers in five games, a hard-fought battle in which the Lakers actually led 79% of the game time, suggesting that, contrary to widespread perception, the series was winnable. But Ham’s bad habits – including reluctance to play Reaves heavy minutes, predisposition to bench-led, guard-heavy lineups and poor management of timeouts and coaching challenges (which loomed large especially in Games 2 and 5), made their ugly header against an opponent that leaves little room for error, and the Lakers were sent packing.
Aside from his mistakes on the hardwood, it’s worth noting that Ham’s ultimate downfall, from conversations with people close to the organization, was his unwillingness to show responsibility for the team’s shortcomings. One moment stands out: After a particularly devastating Jan. 5 home loss to the floundering Memphis Grizzlies team that dropped the Lakers to 15-17 on the season, a nervous Ham said: “I’m tired of people living and dying with every game we play. It’s actually ridiculous.” That didn’t sit well with the fan base, or the front office. Ham also continued to highlight player availability as the problem, deflecting any blame until the bitter end of his exit interview. “It was a huge challenge, for everyone in and out of the lineup,” he says told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, referring to the injuries that plagued some of the team’s role players, even though all of its four best players – James, Davis, Reaves and Russell – played 70 or more games. “It’s amazing how people just ignore that core part of consistency with your lineup, which is all based on health and performance.” He then, surprisingly, seemed to throw parting barbs at presumably Reaves or Russell, adding, “If you’re coaching a team and one of your starters is like 10 games in a row, just shitting in bed, what are you going to do?” doing? Doing?”
But the real crux of Ham’s unwillingness to fall on the proverbial sword for his players came last week during a team practice ahead of Game 3 against Denver. After a heartbreaking loss at the hands of A spectacular Jamal Murray buzzer-beater, Davis had made some telling comments after the game, saying, “We have stretches where we don’t know what we’re doing on either end of the floor.” The comments were understandably interpreted as a shot in the arm for the coaching staff. Ham’s response was defensive: “I think I have incredibly talented coaches throughout my staff. “We pride ourselves on being very efficient and organized, whether it’s a practice, a shootaround, a film session, a game or whatever,” he said. “I just put that down to being frustrated. It’s an emotional game, the way it ended and everything. But I agree to disagree.”
Those comments would serve as the final nail in Ham’s self-made coffin. A source close to the team told the Guardian: “He was already 80% [going to be let go]But [the jab at Davis] took it from 80% to 100%.”
Aside from the obvious flaws in his coaching ability, losing the locker room to that degree was just too much to overcome. The Lakers lost Game 3 at home and went down 3-0 in the series with a “Fire Darvin!” chant that breaks out late in the action at the Crypto.com Arena. The fan base could smell it too. The end was near.
In all likelihood, LeBron James, who turns 40 in December, will be selected for the All-NBA this year after another spectacular season. Anthony Davis will likely join him. Davis played his most regular season games in the history of his injury-plagued Lakers era this year with 76 games, with James not far behind at 71. It seems like a pipe dream that both will remain as healthy next season, not to mention how threatening a young crop of talent is becoming around them. The Western Conference has been more competitive than ever this year – and with emerging wonders like Victor Wembanyama waiting in the wings, it looks like this league is only going to get more competitive. And then there’s the looming question of James’ impending free will — and perhaps even retirement.
Cinderella Conference finals and inaugural Cups aside, Darvin Ham’s legacy in Los Angeles will likely come down to one question: Did he cost the Lakers’ crown jewel in James his last real shot at a title? And to that end, only time (⌛) will tell.