The Los Angeles Lakers have fired head coach Darvin Ham of Saginaw, Michigan according to Ryan Glasspiegel of the New York Post on Saturday. Ham was relieved of his duties after the Lakers were eliminated after five games against the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs.
The Lakers had a regular season record of 47 wins and 35 losses for a winning percentage of .573. They reached the NBA Playoffs after beating the New Orleans Pelicans 110-106 in the NBA Play-In Tournament.
One problem in the Lakers’s loss against the Nuggets is that they struggled significantly in the second half throughout the five games. Throughout the series, Denver outscored Los Angeles in every game over the final 24 minutes, and in the process outscored the Lakers 295-246.
Now, according to Glasspiegel, Michael Wilbon of ESPN is reporting that Lakers’s stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis were blaming Ham for the Lakers’s disappointing ending to their season. One issue with the Lakers this season was a rift between James and Ham. According to Bryan Fonseca of the New York Post, Ham wanted to reduce James’s minutes in the regular season so he would be fresher in the playoffs. That did not suit well at all with James. Davis meanwhile stated according to Matt Levine of Sports Illustrated, that the “Lakers don’t seem to know what they’re doing at times.” This was indirect criticism toward Ham.
It will now be interesting where James ends up next season. There are rumours there is no guarantee he will return in Los Angeles.
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