Los Angeles Lakers coach Darvin Ham may have the support of ownership, but it does not appear he was reaching the players this season.
Shams Charania, Jovan Buha and Sam Amick of The Athletic reported even rival players noticed "frustration" coming from Lakers players regarding Ham's coaching. Lakers players were reportedly displeased with Ham's lineups and rotations, along with his schemes, which players felt left too many players open.
The Lakers are expected to consider firing Ham in the aftermath of their first-round loss to the Denver Nuggets. Ham is 90-74 in his two seasons with the Lakers. It's possible he would have been fired after last season if it were not for a surprise run to the Western Conference Finals.
When asked what went wrong this season, Ham pointed out the inconsistent availability of his rotation players.
"It's been extremely challenging," Ham said, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. "Everyone that's been in and out of the lineup. Being criticized for not having a consistent rotation when I don't have consistent healthy bodies. The thing that frustrates me, and I love this job, I love the pressure that comes with it, I've always been calm in the midst of chaos ... [But] common sense tends to go out the window when you talk about my job in particular.
"It's amazing how people just skip that core part of having a consistency with your lineup is all predicated on health and performance. If you're coaching a team and one of your starters is like 10 games in a row, just s--tting the bed, what are you going to do?"
Unfortunately for Ham, that doesn't exactly ring true. LeBron James played 71 games. Anthony Davis was in the lineup for 76. Austin Reaves, D'Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura and Tauren Prince all played at least 68 games.
While Cam Reddish, Jarred Vanderbilt and Gabe Vincent did miss time, those aren't players who make the difference between a championship and a first-round exit. Better teams and coaches have navigated losing their stars for extended periods with better results.
Given James' age and Davis' injury history, one could argue the Lakers just blew their best chance at making another championship run. Odds are it'll be enough to end Ham's time in Los Angeles.
