The Los Angeles Lakers coach, Darvin Ham, has been unable to lead the team to wins this season. In a recent episode of The Undisputed, Super Bowl champion Richard Sherman went on a rant about Darvin Ham’s recent coaching failures. The former Seattle Seahawks cornerback believes that Ham’s days in Los Angeles are numbered, given he is failing to bring effective change to the Lakers offensively and defensively.
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Under Ham, the Lakers have a 24-25 record, ranking 9th seed in the Western Conference standings. Despite winning the debut In-Season Tournament earlier in December, the Lakers seem to be struggling to maintain a standing that would guarantee them an assured place for this year’s postseason.
They are currently ranked 14th and 20th, respectively, in terms of their offense and defense. Furthermore, in their last 10 games, the Lakers could manage to win only five while currently having a two-game losing streak. Sherman particularly believes that Darvin’s coaching technique has failed drastically, especially on the team’s defensive end.
“I can’t see Darvin Ham being there much longer”@RSherman_25 anticipates the Lakers making a change at head coach pic.twitter.com/lqz1CcxQ0s
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) January 31, 2024
The former NFL player expressed his frustration on the show, saying,
“You see lack of effort on offense, on defense. Shot-making isn’t there. So, I can’t see him [Darwin Ham] being there much longer.”
While Sherman rightfully points to Coach Ham’s role, he also tried highlighting the lack of effort from the players. Sherman believes that signing or trading for new players would turn out to be more counterproductive for the Lakers.
However, a change in the head coach position may prove positive. One who could revamp the playing style and coaching system if the team could certainly help the Lakeshow get back in contention for the playoffs. The atmosphere and animosity surrounding Darvin Ham might suggest that the coach is counting his days.
The atmosphere around Darvin Ham is certainly not positive
While the fans have grown increasingly frustrated by the Lakers’ lack of success in games this season, this animosity has also started catching up for the players. Anthony Davis seems particularly frustrated with Coach Ham’s methods and subtly hints at his disapproval of the head coach as he walks out of the huddle in this tweet,
AD left the huddle while Darvin Ham was trying to draw up a play last game
via @legendz_nba
— Lakers Vino (@VinoUncorked) January 30, 2024
The Lakers lost two consecutive games against the Houston Rockets and the Atlanta Hawks, which is indeed concerning for the team. After the game against the Hawk, Ham met with the media and expressed a bold statement, saying,
“Having a back-to-back, no AD, it’s different circumstances that you can use them as excuses, or you can say, hey, the whole league goes through it. We gotta look ourselves in the mirror and man the hell up.”
Perhaps we might now expect the Lakeshow to pick themselves up for their next showdown against arch-rivals, the Boston Celtics. The Celtics are currently the first seed in the Eastern Conference and are leading as the best team in the league right now, with a 37-11 record in their first 48 games.
