Darvin Ham part ways with the Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers will start their hunt for a new head coach during the offseason following the departure of Coach Darvin Ham.

The Lakers announced today that they fired coach Darvin Ham after two seasons. During his two-season spell, Ham went 90-74, earning two postseason berths, a trip to the 2023 Western Conference Finals, and a title in the first-ever in-season tournament.

The Lakers finished 2023–24 season with a dismal 47–35 record, which was followed by a five-game loss to the Denver Nuggets in the opening round of the playoffs.

Under Ham, the Lakers participated in the play-in tournament both seasons. Although he eventually guided them to the postseason each time, while going further to the West Finals during the 2022-2023 season to increase the stakes for the Lakers.

Throughout large portions of their first-round series, Los Angeles held a commanding lead over the reigning champion Nuggets, but Nikola Jokic and his colleagues ultimately advanced to the West semifinals.

Even before the coaching change, Los Angeles had a lot of questions going into the offseason. After losing to the Nuggets for the second straight game—the first coming in a 4-0 rout in the West Finals—Ham was perceived as being under pressure.

The Lakers’ season-ending collapse was bittersweet because both LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the league’s top scorer with 76 games played and 71 for James, were essentially healthy throughout. This was the first NBA season that either player had played in since 2017–18. In addition to having a fantastic regular season, D’Angelo Russell also established a franchise record for 3-pointers made.

The only improvement in the standings from the previous season was a four-win gain despite Ham’s health and success.

Ham faulted for tactical lacklustre

Meanwhile, fans and observers largely blamed Ham for his poor game management, sluggish tactical adjustments, and unwillingness to alter his starting lineups and player rotations even when things weren’t working.

A subpar defence, erratic performance, and injuries created the conditions for a challenging midseason. In the holiday period that followed the in-season tournament, the Lakers finished 3-10.

During that awful run of play, Ham faced a lot of criticism for his lineup choices and rotations. Among other odd choices, he benched Russell and Austin Reaves while providing Taurean Prince and Cam Reddish a lot of playing time.

But the Lakers came back, finishing 23-10 to defeat the New Orleans Pelicans in the SoFi Play-In Tournament and secure the seventh seed in the Western Conference.

Both James and fellow player Anthony Davis have player options for 2024–2025; they have until June 29 to exercise them. Along with D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, Reaves, Gabe Vincent, and Jarred Vanderbilt, these players are also under contract for the upcoming season with the Lakers, if they both return.

Under his contract, Ham could have stayed with the Lakers for another two years. James became the team’s head coach in 2018. Since Hall of Famer Phil Jackson left the Lakers in 2011, this will be the team’s ninth coach in 14 years.