The Los Angeles Lakers knew changes needed to be made after the team was bounced out of the first round by the Denver Nuggets.
Despite a competitive five-game series, it was clear the Lakers were a couple of notches below the Nuggets and so it wasn’t a surprise when the organization made the decision to part ways with former head coach Darvin Ham.
Ham was the easy scapegoat for Los Angeles, but there were some legitimate gripes that fans and even the players had with how he managed the roster.
Between rotations, lineup choices, and in-game management blunders like timeout usage and calling challenges, Ham didn’t help himself over the course of the 2023-24 NBA season.
Perhaps more damning is the fact that James didn’t offer much public support for Ham, especially toward the end of his tenure.
James was also reportedly not happy with Ham to start the regular season due to the imposed minutes restriction he had on him, via Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.
“James bristled at the idea of restricting his minutes at the start of the season, sources said — an idea that was noticeably scrapped after just a few games,” Shelburne said.
At James’ age, it makes sense to try to preserve him as much as possible but it sounds like the Lakers star didn’t want to be held back after missing part of the previous season due to injury.
James is a fiery competitor when the games matter and now he’ll have some input on who the franchise chooses as their next head coach.
