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Lue: Criticism Of Ham “Definitely Unfair”

January 7th, 2024 at 9:58pm CST by Dana Gauruder

There was plenty of intrigue before the Clippers–Lakers game on Sunday night as Darvin Ham’s job status was a topic of conversation.

Ham has taken heavy criticism during the Lakers’ slide after winning the in-season tournament. A report from The Athletic claimed there was a “deepening disconnect” between Ham and his players over his frequent tinkering with the lineup and rotations. In response, Ham insisted he was “aligned” with owner Jeanie Buss and vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka.

Ham denied during the pregame press conference on Sunday that his job was on the line, Khobi Prince of the Orange County Register tweets.

“No, I don’t,” he said when asked whether he felt he was coaching for his job. “I feel like I’m coaching a hell of a franchise and it comes with the territory when you’re coaching in this business. I’ve seen a lot of coaches come and go, good ones, and some that have some bad circumstances around them. But in no way, shape or form do I feel that way.”

Clippers coach Tyronn Lue defended Ham, saying the criticism he’s been taking is “definitely unfair,” Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times tweets.

“It’s a long season. A lot of different things go on throughout the course of the season, a lot of changing parts,” Lue said. “And we said the same thing last year when they were 2-10 and they went to the conference finals and so are you giving the coach all the credit for that? I don’t think so. And I think D-Ham did a hell of a job last year by doing that. And the same thing this year. They got a lot of injuries, a lot of different rotations, a lot of starting lineups and it’s hard.”

The Lakers entered the game with a 17-19 record and a four-game losing streak.

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LeBron On Lakers: “We Just Suck Right Now”

January 6th, 2024 at 9:26am CST by Tristan Tucker

The Lakers dropped their fourth straight game on Friday and Los Angeles is now 17-19 following its loss to the Grizzlies. After winning the NBA’s in-season tournament last month, L.A. currently sits a game out of a play-in tournament spot at No. 11 in the conference.

“We just suck right now,” LeBron James said after the game, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.

The Lakers have gone 3-10 since winning the in-season tournament in Las Vegas, and James downplayed the importance of that accomplishment in evaluating the Lakers’ season in full.

“That was just two games,” James said. “It’s a small sample. Everyone is getting so cracked up about Vegas and keep bringing up Vegas. It was two games. We took care of that business. It was the in-season tournament, we played it, we won it. But that was literally just two games.”

The Lakers’ frustrations have boiled over, with reports surfacing over the past week about coach Darvin Ham‘s disconnect with the locker room. Ham said too much emphasis has been placed on Los Angeles’s recent losses.

“I’m tired of people living and dying with every single game we play,” Ham said. “It’s ludicrous, actually. It’s like, come on, man, this is a marathon. And we hit a tough stretch. It’s the same team. … We played some high-level games a little while ago, and we just got to get back to that. We got to keep the fight going. We cannot lose our fight.”

The Lakers are currently without rotation players in D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura and Gabe Vincent, further complicating their current struggles ahead of the trade deadline. However, players have continually refused to use injuries as an excuse.

“We still have a lot of basketball left,” Anthony Davis said. “But we’re trending in the wrong direction right now. And the last thing we need, especially when guys are out, is to separate and fall apart. So we got to stay together, for sure, and figure it out. We can’t be in our feelings. We can’t be complaining or whatever. We can’t take anything personal.

“We have to look individually, myself, everyone in the locker room, the coaching staff, look at ourselves in the mirror and figure out what we can do individually better to help the team be better. And I think then we can come out and flip things around.“

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Lakers’ Ham: “Aligned” With Owner, GM

January 5th, 2024 at 10:45pm CST by Rory Maher

Amid a report of a “deepening disconnect” between Darvin Ham and Lakers players due to Ham’s erratic lineups, which have partially been a result of injuries, the team’s head coach says he’s “solid” in his job security and is “aligned” with owner Jeanie Buss and vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka, according to Khobi Price of The Southern California News Group and Dave McMenamin of ESPN.

“It comes with the territory,” Ham said of the criticisms. “I’m solid. My governor, Jeanie Buss, the boss lady; our president, Robert Pelinka – we’re all aligned. As long as they’re not saying it, I guess I’m good.

“Which I know how they feel about me and the situation we’re currently in. So, we’re all on the same page. My two captains (LeBron James and Anthony Davis), I communicate with them. Our communication has been at a high level.”

Ham didn’t directly mention the report from The Athletic, but he criticized the general use of anonymous sources, like the ones cited in the story.

“The one thing that’s crazy is that it reminds me of when I used to watch ‘60 Minutes’ with my father in the ’80s,” Ham said. “And one particular show they were talking about La Cosa Nostra and the mafia and these guys were starting to go to trial and their star witness shows up with a black potato sack over his head and shades. And due to fear, the name can’t really be released.

“This seems to be the standard of reporting now for [the] NBA. People on the internet and whatever. And not all reporters – I don’t want to disrespect anybody in the room – but when you say the source is anonymous by choice and they don’t want to put their name on something but they want to give you the information and then you take the information and now everybody gets a chance to dissect it and spread it all out in their own way, it’s kind of disingenuous. And I wish we would get to a place where people are firm enough to stand on what they’re saying and then maybe we can have real dialogue and get to it.”

Ham said he welcomed critiques of his performance and brushed off the speculation.

“I don’t mind people critiquing the job I’m doing,” he said. “All I’m going to do is keep my head down and continue to do my job until I can’t do it anymore. Just be solid with what you’re putting out there and please don’t intertwine it with personal attacks either.

“That’s what it is, that’s what I signed up for when I decided to become a coach and I’ve been around some great guys who have handled it well and some coaches that haven’t handled it so well. But me? I’m solid. I’ve been through a ton of ‘ish’ in my life and this is a walk in the park. Trust me.”

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L.A. Notes: Harden, Clippers, Diabate, Lakers, Ham

January 5th, 2024 at 11:01am CST by Luke Adams

After losing their first six games following the acquisition of James Harden, the Clippers have since won 18 of 23, including the last four in a row, to improve their record to 21-12. With the team firing on all cylinders, it hasn’t been lost on Harden that the critics who were decrying his fit in early November have been quiet as of late.

“Fit is great, I knew that from the beginning and it’s one of the reasons why I wanted to be a part of this,” Harden said, per Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times. “Obviously it didn’t start off well. It gave people so much to talk about in a negative way, and now those people that were talking are nowhere to be found. Like, literally nowhere to be found. Which, we knew that was going to happen.”

Viewed as a title threat when Kawhi Leonard and Paul George teamed up in Los Angeles in 2019, the Clippers have won just three playoff series in the past four seasons as Leonard and George  both dealt with injuries. But with the two forwards healthy this season and Harden bringing a new element to the roster, they’re looking like a legitimate contender again.

Asked by Melissa Rohlin of FOX Sports what winning a championship would mean for his legacy, Harden said it would be “very important.”

“It’s been like that. I always want to give myself a chance to win. I know how very difficult that is,” Harden said. “There’s only one team standing at the end of the year. So, I’ll continue to keep trying to do that.”

Here’s more on the NBA’s two Los Angeles teams:

  • Clippers two-way center Moussa Diabate, who was hampered in December by a hip issue, appeared in his first NBA game in over a month on Monday, logging three garbage-time minutes in a victory over Miami. However, it sounds like he won’t play again for a while — the team announced that Diabate, who had six blocks in a G League game on Tuesday, is out due to a metacarpal fracture in his right hand, tweets Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. The club has yet to provide a recovery timeline.
  • With the Lakers slumping, Mirjam Swanson of The Southern California News Group wonders why the team hasn’t turned to the lineups that were successful last season, including either Jarred Vanderbilt or Rui Hachimura alongside Anthony Davis, LeBron James, Austin Reaves, and D’Angelo Russell. Injuries have been a problem, but the club hasn’t used either of those lineups even when everyone has been available — those two groups have played just three total minutes together in 2023/24, says Swanson.
  • While head coach Darvin Ham is clearly facing pressure to turn the Lakers‘ season around, a “high-ranking” team source disputed the idea that he’s on the verge of being fired, according to Sam Amick of The Athletic. Amick adds that assistant Phil Handy is frequently brought up as the possible next man up if the Lakers do eventually decide to make an in-season coaching change.
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“Deepening Disconnect” Between Darvin Ham, Lakers Players

January 4th, 2024 at 10:55am CST by Arthur Hill

Darvin Ham‘s frequent lineup changes have led to a “deepening disconnect” between the Lakers coach and his players, according to Shams Charania and Jovan Buha of The Athletic.

Six sources with direct knowledge of the situation spoke to the authors about a “disjointedness” that has arisen as Ham has adjusted roles of various players to try to shake the team out of its current slide. L.A. is 3-9 since winning the in-season tournament and has fallen to 10th in the West with a 17-18 record.

Ham used his 10th different starting lineup of the season in Wednesday night’s loss to Miami, making Austin Reaves a starter again in place of the injured Rui Hachimura. Sources tell Charania and Buha that the changes have led to “a fluctuating rhythm” for several players. The authors add that the adjustments have prevented the team from establishing any continuity or determining its best lineup combinations.

After Wednesday’s game, Ham said injury problems are responsible for his frequent changes. Cam Reddish has been in and out of the lineup due to a groin issue, Hachimura is sidelined with a Grade 1 left calf strain and D’Angelo Russell sat out his second straight game with a bruised tailbone.

Ham also suggested that the Heat, who were playing without Jimmy Butler, were in a better position than the Lakers.

“I think the multiple (rotation players) are more impactful than … if you lose one of your big dogs, you’re going to figure out how to try and manage without them,” Ham said. “… And when you have your key role players, your key rotation players – this guy misses three or four. This guy misses three or four. And they’re happening one right after another, that’s what makes it difficult. … We’ve got to figure it out. I’m disappointed, but I’ll be damned if I get discouraged.”

L.A. held a team meeting after Wednesday’s loss, Charania and Buha add, and many of the players were gone by the time the media were admitted to the locker room. Among those who talked to reporters, Reaves and Anthony Davis both emphasized that injuries are no excuse for losing, which the authors note is part of the disconnect between Ham and his players.

Ham has two full seasons beyond this one remaining on his four-year contract, so the Lakers will likely be reluctant to make a coaching change. He has also shown an ability to overcome adversity, leading the team to the Western Conference Finals after a 2-10 start to last season. However, Charania and Buha write that “time is of the essence” for L.A. to start winning and “patience is beginning to run thin.”

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L.A. Notes: Lakers, LaVine, Kawhi, Coffey, Westbrook

December 22nd, 2023 at 7:59am CST by Luke Adams

The Lakers have slumped badly since winning the in-season tournament earlier this month, losing five of their past six games, including the last four in a row, to slip to 15-14 on the season. Following a 118-111 defeat at the hands of Minnesota on Thursday night, star big man Anthony Davis called for more urgency, as Dave McMenamin of ESPN writes.

“It’s the NBA season. There’s going to be ups, there’s going to be downs. Right now we’re in that down period,” Davis said. “We just got to continue to fight and continue to play hard. Play with some effort, some energy and we’re treating Saturday (in Oklahoma City) as a must win.”

As Jovan Buha of The Athletic notes, Davis also spoke about the team’s recent struggles after Wednesday’s loss to Chicago, pointing out that there’s “no break coming” and no “cavalry” the team is waiting on. While LeBron James (left ankle) and Gabe Vincent (left knee) did miss Thursday’s contest, the second end of a back-to-back set, they’re expected to be available going forward.

“We’ve got everyone back now,” Davis said. “We just got to find a way to get into the win column.”

The Lakers have dealt with injuries to rotation players for most of the season, but now that they’re as healthy as they’ve been all year, Darvin Ham and his coaching staff hope to set a depth chart and rotation and stick with it “for the foreseeable future,” sources tell McMenamin.

Here’s more on the NBA’s two Los Angeles teams:

  • Within his latest roundup of trade-related rumors from around the NBA, Kurt Helin of NBC Sports says the sources he has spoken to believe that a deal sending Bulls guard Zach LaVine to the Lakers is unlikely, at best. As Buha suggested at The Athletic earlier this week, Los Angeles would probably only consider a deal if the outgoing package consists of D’Angelo Russell, salary filler, and limited assets beyond that, such as Jalen Hood-Schifino and a protected first-round pick.
  • Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard missed his first game of the season on Thursday night, as the team ruled out him due to a left hip contusion, which head coach Tyronn Lue referred to as a “day-to-day thing,” per Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times (Twitter links). Amir Coffey drew the start at Oklahoma City in what turned out to be the team’s first loss this month — the Clippers have a 9-1 record in December.
  • Clippers guard Russell Westbrook has seen his role reduced since James Harden‘s arrival in Los Angeles, but Westbrook remains supremely confident in his abilities, as Greif details for The L.A. Times. After a strong defensive performance against Luka Doncic and the Mavericks on Wednesday, Westbrook said he can “do anything on the floor at all times” and suggested he wants his due as a defender. “Ain’t too many people defending better than me at this point if we keeping it honest,” he said. “But I’ll let the numbers speak for that and let y’all talk about it. But we just keeping it a buck, ain’t too many people defending better than me at this position all around the league, honestly.”
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The Lakers Players Who Benefited Most From IST Prize Money

December 10th, 2023 at 8:13am CST by Luke Adams

The Lakers‘ team salary this season is just above the $165.3MM luxury tax line, far exceeding the $126MM or so on the Pacers‘ books.

However, not a single player on Indiana’s roster is on a minimum-salary contract and only four Pacers players on standard deals are earning less than $5MM this season. By comparison, Los Angeles has eight players with cap hits below that $5MM threshold, including five earning the minimum.

While the $500K bonus for winning the NBA’s in-season tournament (IST) may be a drop in the bucket for maximum-salary stars like LeBron James and Anthony Davis, it serves as a significant pay raise for the players on the lower half of the Lakers’ cap sheet, as well as the players on two-way contracts who will receive bonuses worth $250K.

Here are the Lakers players for whom the NBA Cup prize money represents more than a 10% raise on their 2023/24 base salary, which is noted in parentheses:

Players receiving a $500K bonus:

Players receiving a $250K bonus:

The bonuses for Lewis and the Lakers’ two-way players represent a raise of roughly 44.7% on their respective base salaries.

The Lakers’ coaching staff also benefited financially from their in-season tournament success. Head coach Darvin Ham earned the same $500K bonus that his players did, while his assistant coaches divvied up $375K in bonus money.

The Pacers’ players and head coach Rick Carlisle went home with bonuses worth $200K (or $100K for two-way players).

None of this prize money will count against the salary cap, so the Lakers’ team salary for cap purposes remains unchanged, as do the team salaries for Indiana and the other six clubs who made the knockout round of the IST.

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Lakers Notes: Trade Market, Reaves, Vanderbilt, Hachimura, Vincent

December 2nd, 2023 at 9:44pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Lakers will be patient about assessing potential trades, team sources tell Jovan Buha of The Athletic. Numerous injuries have made it difficult to evaluate the current roster, so the front office will continue to study the type of moves that need to be made and wait to see what opportunities might develop if teams such as the Raptors, Wizards, Jazz, Nets or Hornets decide to have a “fire sale” before the February deadline, according to Buha.

December 15 marks the unofficial start of trade season as most of the free agents who signed this summer will become eligible to be moved. For L.A., that list includes D’Angelo Russell, Gabe Vincent, Taurean Prince, Cam Reddish, Christian Wood and Jaxson Hayes. Rui Hachimura and Austin Reaves will become trade-eligible a month later.

Buha notes that the Lakers have already been linked to Zach LaVine in trade rumors, along with fellow Bulls DeMar DeRozan and Alex Caruso. But it appears any deal may be a couple of months away.

There’s more on the Lakers:

  • Finding the best role for Reaves should be one of coach Darvin Ham‘s priorities for the rest of the season, Buha states in the same story. Reaves began the season as a starter, but he has put up better stats since being moved to a sixth-man role. Buha says the early-season slump could have been caused by fatigue from playing for Team USA in the World Cup or it could have been a result of adapting to more minutes at point guard. Regardless, Ham will eventually have to settle on a fifth starter from a group that includes Reaves, Prince, Reddish and Max Christie.
  • Meeting with reporters before tonight’s game, Ham confirmed that Jarred Vanderbilt will make his season debut after missing 20 games with bursitis in his left heel, Buha tweets. Hachimura has been medically cleared after missing the past four games following surgery for a nasal fracture, but Ham said “it’s more of a touch-and-feel thing with Rui” regarding how much he will play.
  • Vincent has only appeared in four games because of a left knee effusion, but he’s getting closer to a return, Ham added, saying that he’s lifting weights, shooting and running on an anti-gravity treadmill (Twitter link). “He’s progressing along,” Ham said. “Not as of yet, but he’s progressing really, really good.”
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Pacific Notes: Vincent, Primo, Gay, McGruder, Suns

September 30th, 2023 at 11:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

In an interview with Mark Medina of Sportskeeda, Gabe Vincent said he isn’t upset that Lakers coach Darvin Ham has already chosen D’Angelo Russell as his starting point guard. Vincent is only a few months removed from starting for the Heat in the NBA Finals, but he’s willing to accept a reserve role with his new team.

“That’s something for D-Ham to worry about,” Vincent said. “I’m not the coach. I don’t set lineups. I just go out there and do my job. I’ll do whatever I can to help this team win games and help this organization win games. As I’ve seen in the past, every night doesn’t always look the same. With that big picture in mind with trying to help us win, I’ll wear whatever hat is needed.”

L.A. signed Vincent to a three-year contract worth $33MM, so he’s obviously in the team’s plans even if he won’t start right away. Vincent had several options in free agency, but he liked the idea of playing for Ham because they have similar backgrounds.

“I think it’s just in general his route,” Vincent said. “I think there are some similarities between me and him in that regard and his journey. He spent some time in the G League as did I. There are some similarities that we have naturally, even when we sit down and talk the game and catch up. It’s seamless. We get along well. D Ham has been great. He’s been very real. So I definitely have appreciated him early in this process.”

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

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Pacific Notes: Paul, Labissiere, Warriors Rookies, Lakers

September 9th, 2023 at 10:54am CST by Tristan Tucker

The Warriors made one of the splashiest moves of the offseason when they acquired Chris Paul from Washington after he was sent to the Wizards by Phoenix in the Bradley Beal trade. Even though the Warriors sent out Jordan Poole in the deal, lineup questions arose for Golden State, who return 2022/23 starters Stephen Curry, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and Kevon Looney — that could leave CP3 as the odd man out in the starting five.

However, appearing on a recent episode of Yahoo Sports’ Vince Goodwill’s “Good Word With Goodwill” podcast (Podcast link), Andscape’s Marc J. Spears said he expects the Warriors to start Paul.

“I do expect him to start. And I think it’s like five-minute spurts,” Spears said on the podcast. “I don’t know that they really want his minutes to be high, but I think they’re gonna try it. I could be wrong, but that’s the gist I’m getting. This isn’t an opinion that he’s expected to start; it’s what I’m hearing. He’s never not started in his career.”

As Spears notes, Paul has started in all 1,214 of his NBA appearances. If that streak continues, it means one of the Warriors’ entrenched starters would have to move to the bench. Looney is a natural candidate, but the Warriors are lacking size and going that route would put them at a disadvantage in that regard, since it would make 6’6″ Green and 6’7″ Wiggins the tallest players in the lineup.

We have more notes from the Pacific Division:

  • The Kings plan to sign and then waive Skal Labissiere on the same day, meaning he won’t report to the team’s training camp The Kings Beat’s James Ham tweets. This was always the expected outcome for Labissiere, especially after the team secured his G League rights in a trade on Friday. Labissiere, 27, played for the Kings from 2016-19 after being drafted by the team with the No. 28 overall pick in the 2016 draft. He holds career averages of 7.2 points and 4.5 rebounds in 148 NBA appearances between the Kings and the Trail Blazers.
  • Warriors rookies Brandin Podziemski and Trayce Jackson-Davis are becoming closer throughout the offseason, recently touring several attractions in San Francisco, Shayna Rubin of The Mercury News writes. Podziemski and Jackson-Davis, who could both play rotational roles for a Warriors team seeking to contend, are becoming acclimated to the city and the franchise, according to Rubin. Rubin reports that the two were part of a players-only mini-camp hosted by Curry at the end of August, and the entire team grew closer as a result of the event.
  • Signing Christian Wood is the latest in a series of flashy Lakers moves this offseason, but Heavy’s Sean Deveney writes that rival executives believe coach Darvin Ham is going to have his hands full with developing and sticking to a rotation. “They’re deep,” the executive said, per Deveney. “They’re 12 deep. That’s great when you look at it on paper. But when happens when the ball goes up and you’re playing nine guys, and one of those guys is playing eight minutes? That gets sticky for a coach. [Ham] is as good as anyone at relating to players, but a depth chart like that can be a coach’s nightmare.” Deveney suggests that Wood wouldn’t have joined the Lakers if his role wasn’t going to be big. Los Angeles also brought in a handful of players in free agency, including Gabe Vincent and Taurean Prince, while retaining Rui Hachimura, Austin Reaves and D’Angelo Russell. Second-year player Max Christie is also in line for more playing time.
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