Could a coaching change be on the horizon in Los Angeles?
Shams Charania and Jovan Buha of the Athletics reported Thursday that there is a “deepening separation” between Lakers players and head coach Darvin Ham, citing six sources with direct knowledge of the situation.
According to the report, the disruption is due to Ham's “extreme rotation and starting lineup adjustments of late, which resulted in an erratic rhythm for several players across the squad.”
The report cited a specific lineup change when Ham faced the Oklahoma City Thunder on Dec. 23 with LeBron James, Taurean Prince, Cam Reddish, Jarred Vanderbilt and Anthony Davis that was viewed internally as a “head-scratcher” by multiple parties. However, Los Angeles won that game thanks to a 40-point performance from James.
While the Lakers had a flawless season record en route to winning their first NBA Cup, it was otherwise a disappointing season. Los Angeles is just 11-18 in non-IST games and 17-18 overall, ranking 10th in the Western Conference standings. And those problems existed even though James and Davis missed just five games combined.
The Lakers have lost nine of 12 games since their IST title triumph, most recently at home on Wednesday against the Miami Heat without Jimmy Butler, who lost for the third time in a row. In this game, Los Angeles used its 10th starting lineup of the season.
After the 110-96 loss to Miami, James left Crypto.com Arena without speaking to the media, while Austin Reaves described the team's mood as “s***.”
“We lose. Every time you lose, the mood should go away, you know? When I go in.” [the locker room] And the mood wasn't bad after the tough stretch we had, then I would be worried. It really is,” Reaves told reporters via ESPN. “You know, I don't expect us to be happy with our performance.” So until we figure that out, the mood should be off. We have to win games.
Ham is in his second year as head coach of the Lakers. Last season, Los Angeles rebounded from a 2-10 start to finish 43-39 and reach the conference finals.
But the Lakers currently seem to be anything but a threat to reach the conference finals again.
“It's a little bit of everything right now,” Ham said after Wednesday's loss, via ESPN. “We are not efficient. This team played harder than us tonight, performed better than us tonight and is more physical than us tonight. We were overloaded tonight so it’s a little bit of everything right now.”
“If we continue on this train, it won’t be good for us.”