According to NBA insider Anthony Irwin of Lakers Daily, LeBron James “rolls his eyes” when Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham speaks during timeouts.
LeBron spends most timeouts staring into the void and hardly interacts with Ham at all.
“He sits in the huddle and gets his rest/water, rolls his eyes as Ham speaks and waits for the huddle to break,” one source close to the situation told Irwin. “If Ham ever does draw up a play, as soon as the huddle breaks, James will tell everyone else on the court with him ‘f— all that’ and calls a play of his own.”
The Lakers are 33-29 on the season. They are in 10th place in the Western Conference standings.
If the season ended today, the Lakers would need to win two games in the play-in tournament to make the 2024 playoffs as the eighth seed.
Under Ham, the Lakers are 12th in the NBA in points per game and 21st in points per game allowed this season.
“We couldn’t do s— against Miami’s zone and we have LeBron,” one source told Irwin. “After the game, it was all, ‘We gotta do this, players gotta do that.’ Not once did we hear about coaches not knowing what to do against a 2-3.”
LeBron, 39, can become an unrestricted free agent this summer if he declines his 2024-25 player option with the Lakers worth $51.4 million. The four-time MVP and four-time Finals MVP is still putting up elite numbers despite being the oldest player in the NBA.
Ham won’t be fired this season since there are only 20 games left. However, if the Lakers don’t make the 2024 playoffs, Ham’s job could be in jeopardy.
“Per sources speaking on the condition of anonymity, Ham’s job is still very much safe this season, but if the Lakers don’t make the playoffs (meaning, secure the sixth seed or win their way into an actual playoff series), that could change as soon as this summer,” Irwin wrote. “Pelinka’s focus is still squarely on this season, sources say, and conversations about Ham’s future have yet to truly commence. … All year, reports have surfaced about how various guys in the locker room feel about Ham, and per a few sources, at least a couple players plan to speak to Pelinka about Ham’s future as soon as this season ends. There remains legitimate concern throughout the organization how fit Ham is to continue as head coach.”
