The Lakers fired head coach Darvin Ham After just two seasons at the helm on Friday morning – a decision that seemed unlikely just a year ago but inevitable after how the Lakers’ 2023-24 season transpired.
Ham led the team to the playoffs each season, but that’s not enough with an organization focused on championships. With little time left to capitalize on the concurrent presence of Anthony Davis and 39-year-old LeBron James – who hasn’t decided whether to return for his 22nd NBA season – the Lakers are resetting their coaching staff once again.
“We greatly appreciate Darvin’s efforts on behalf of the Lakers and recognize the many accomplishments achieved over the past two seasons including last year’s remarkable run to the Western Conference finals,” Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka said in a statement. “We all want to thank Darvin for his dedication and positivity. While this was a difficult decision to make, it is the best course of action following a full review of the season.
“This organization will remain unwavering in its commitment to deliver championship-caliber basketball to Lakers fans around the world.”
Rumors of Ham’s declining job security had been circulating for months, with his dismissal expected since the Lakers’ season ended with their in a first-round playoff series Monday night at Ball Arena. The Lakers led the defending champion Nuggets for long stretches of that series, but Nikola Jokic and his teammates eventually rolled into the second round with a series of comeback wins.
Ham finished his Lakers tenure with a 90-74 regular-season record and a 9-12 playoff record, with the Lakers making the postseason in both seasons. Ham replaced Frank Vogel, who was fired by the Lakers exactly 18 months after winning the franchise’s 17th championship in 2020.
“It’s been a hell of a two years, I’ll tell you that,” Ham said after Monday’s defeat. “Sitting in this seat, it’s been a hell of a two years.”
After a surprise run to the conference finals during Ham’s first year as head coach to close out their 2022-23 season – which started with the Lakers opening the season 2-10 before a significant roster overhaul ahead of the trade deadline, moves that helped fuel a late-season push before being swept out of the playoffs by the Nuggets – the Lakers had an up-and-down 2023-24.
It began with a slow start following an opening-night loss to the Nuggets, with the Lakers falling to 3-5 after dropping three consecutive early November games. The Lakers’ early-season struggles led to Ham benching Austin Reaves for Cam Reddish on Nov. 10 with the hopes the move would improve the defense and provide better balance.
The Lakers won 11 of their next 15 games, not including the Dec. 9 victory over the Indiana Pacers in the inaugural In-Season Tournament championship game. The monthlong stretch of strong play momentarily catapulted the Lakers to fourth place in the Western Conference standings.
Lakers Part Ways With Head Coach Darvin Ham
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers)
But the good feelings quickly soured as the Lakers’ performances dipped.
The Lakers lost 10 of their 13 games immediately after the In-Season Tournament, including a pair of four-game losing streaks, dropping them to 17-19.
During this slide, The Athletic reported there was a “deepening disconnect” between Ham and the Lakers’ locker room with issues related to the rotation, starting lineup changes and inconsistent roles.
“It comes with the territory,” Ham said at the time. “I’m solid. My governor, Jeanie Buss, the boss lady; our president [of basketball operations] Robert Pelinka – we’re all aligned. As long as they’re not saying it, I guess I’m good. I know how they feel about me and the situation we’re currently in. So, we’re all on the same page.”
In addition to benching Reaves, who became a full-time starter again in early January, Ham also moved D’Angelo Russell to a reserve role after Russell’s rough play in early-to-mid December – a stretch in which the Lakers dropped five of six games.
The Lakers used six different starting lineups during the aforementioned 13-game slide, in part because of injuries but also because Ham was searching for the right groups to stop the Lakers’ skid. Two of those starting lineups included having Reaves and Russell come off the bench in favor of wing-led groups – James, Taurean Prince, Jarred Vanderbilt and Cam Reddish or Rui Hachimura – next to Davis. Russell regained his starting spot in mid-January and later set the franchise’s single-season record for 3-point baskets.
The Lakers recovered and eventually settled on a starting lineup of Russell, Reaves, Hachimura, James and Davis, taking advantage of the continuity that the group built during the end of the 2022-23 season.
The move paid off, with the Lakers going 18-6 in regular-season games that five-man group started and the team winning 22 of its final 32 games.
The Lakers finished the regular season 47-35 for eighth place in the West before beating the New Orleans Pelicans in the play-in tournament to become the No. 7 seed, setting up a playoff rematch with the Nuggets, a series they eventually lost in five games.
But the Lakers finishing the regular season strong, and eventually competing against the defending NBA champions in the playoffs, wasn’t enough for Ham to keep the job going into the 2024-25 season.
Throughout the season, Ham often pointed to injuries as a reason for the Lakers’ struggles. He did again Monday.
“You take a lot of flak for your rotations and all of that, but rotations are secondary – the primary is health,” Ham said. “And when you start the season off without key pieces, and you lose some key pieces early, they come back and you lose some more key pieces. A couple [of] guys have been out two, three, four times during the course of the year, it’s hard to build that continuity.
“You have all these talented players all along your roster, but to have a set nine, 10 guys, and you lose one, that’s one thing. But to have two, three, four guys missing different points at times, it’s tough. And all the while, trying to manage a guy that’s in this 21st season, another guy in A.D., it’s in his 12th, all the previous injury history he’s been through. Health is the greatest of wealth. And that’s pretty much it. You got healthy players, you can figure the rest out.”
Forward Jarred Vanderbilt, a starter during last season’s run, missed 53 regular-season games due to injuries, including 20 to start the season and 32 to end it.
Guard Gabe Vincent, one of the Lakers’ main free-agent signings, played in only 11 regular-season games because of left knee ailments.
Forward/center Christian Wood didn’t play after the All-Star break because of left knee ailments. Hachimura also missed 14 games.
At the same time, James (71), Davis (76), Russell (76) and Reaves (82) were as healthy and available as the Lakers could have hoped. James’ games played were his most in his six seasons with the Lakers, while Reaves’ and Davis’ were career highs.
Other issues outside of health were present, leaving lingering “what-if” questions following the Lakers’ 2023-24 season.
What if the Lakers started Hachimura alongside Russell, Reaves, James and Davis earlier in the season? Or leaned more into the continuity that the Lakers prioritized with last summer’s roster moves? Would they have been able to squeak out a few more wins and have possibly ended the season higher in the standings, avoiding a first-round matchup against the Nuggets?
Players also privately grumbled about schemes and preparation for opponents.
The Lakers turned their season around with a strong second half, but not in time for the result to be different than last year – falling to the Nuggets in the playoffs.
“It’s tough, you know, the completion of my second year in this seat,” Ham said. “It’s a lot. But it is what it is, man. I’m not going to feel sorry for myself or ourselves. It’s an unbelievable franchise to represent. Couldn’t ask for a better governor, better president of the ops in Rob Pelinka and Jeanie Buss.
“But I’ve seen a lot in my first two years in this seat. So I continue to work and get better, and control what I can control.”
The Lakers only went 43-39 in their first season under Ham in 2022-23, but they capitalized on more favorable playoff matchups. After beating Minnesota in a play-in game, they won playoff series against an injury-plagued Memphis team and exploited their sizer advantage over Golden State to reach the conference finals.
James, Davis and the Lakers have failed to win a playoff round in three of their four seasons since winning the 2020 championship in the Florida bubble.
Ham had two years left on his contract with the Lakers, who will be hiring their fourth head coach since James arrived in 2018. The new coach will be the Lakers’ eighth in 14 seasons since Hall of Famer Phil Jackson’s departure in 2011.
James has a $51.4 million player option for next season, and his decision hangs over every offseason move for the Lakers, who internally expect him to return.
Pelinka then must determine whether he can make the long-anticipated move for a third superstar through trades, or whether he believes the assertions by Hachimura and other role players that the Lakers can become a contender with more continuity.
Russell has an $18.7 million player option after the sharpshooting guard excelled in the regular season and flopped in the playoffs, infamously going scoreless in the Game 3 loss to Denver. After the Lakers were knocked out of the playoffs on Monday, the point guard said he has “a little leverage. I’ll try to take advantage of it.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
