Since they won the In-Season Tournament, the Lakers have lost nine of their last twelve games.
Could there be a change in management in Los Angeles soon?
Shams Charania and Jovan Buha of The Athletic said on Thursday, citing six people who know the situation well, that there is a “deepening disconnect” between Lakers players and head coach Darvin Ham.
The confusion is due to “extreme rotation and starting lineup adjustments recently from Ham, leading to a fluctuating rhythm for several players across the roster,” the news source says.
The story mentioned one lineup change that was seen as “a head-scratcher by multiple parties internally.” It happened on Dec. 23 when Ham started LeBron James, Taurean Prince, Cam Reddish, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Anthony Davis. Los Angeles did win that game, though, thanks to James’ 40 points.
The Lakers won the first NBA Cup with an unblemished record in the In-Season Tournament, but the rest of the season has been poor. LA is only 11-18 in games that aren’t IST and 17-18 overall, which puts them in 10th place in the Western Conference rankings. These problems have happened even though James and Davis have only missed a total of five games.
Since winning the IST title, the Lakers have lost nine of their last twelve games. Their most recent loss was at home to the Jimmy Butler-less Miami Heat on Wednesday, their third straight loss. L.A. used its 10th different starting group this season for this game.
Following the 110–96 loss to Miami, James left Crypto.com Arena without addressing the press, while Austin Reaves said that the team’s mood was.
“We’re down.” You should feel bad whenever you lose, you know? It would worry me if I went into the changing room and didn’t feel like something was wrong after the rough stretch we’ve been through. By way of ESPN, Reaves told reporters, “That’s it.” “You know, I don’t think we’ll be pleased with how we’ve played. That’s why the mood should be off until we figure that out. We need to win games.
Ham has been the head coach of the Lakers for two years now. Los Angeles came back from a 2-10 start last year to end 43–39 and make it to the conference finals.
The Lakers don’t look like a threat to make it back to the conference finals, though.
This is what Ham said after Wednesday’s loss: “It’s a little bit of everything right now.” “We’re not carrying out. Tonight, that team worked harder, pulled off better plays, and was more physical than us. Tonight, they did more work than us, so it’s a mix of things right now.
“We won’t be happy if we stay on this train.”