After two seasons, the Los Angeles Lakers fired coach Darvin Ham on Friday. The franchise will now begin a hiring process in an attempt to find the best candidate to maximise LeBron James’s likely final chapter in his legendary career while putting them back in the running for a title.
With two years left on his deal, Ham had gone 90-74 (.549) in the regular season and 9-12 (.429) in the postseason (not counting his two play-in tournament victories). Since being brought in to take Frank Vogel’s place in 2022, Ham had played in nineteen games. In December, he led the Lakers to their first-ever in-season tournament championship in Las Vegas.
Days had passed since the Lakers were knocked from the playoffs for the second consecutive season by the Denver Nuggets, this time in five games during the first round after Denver had swept them in the conference finals the previous year.
We're now on WhatsApp. Click here to join.
The Lakers have accomplished a great deal over the last two seasons, including a historic run to the Western Conference finals last year. We are grateful for Darvin Ham’s efforts on their behalf. The Lakers’ general manager and vice president of basketball operations, Rob Pelinka, stated in a statement. “We would all like to thank Darvin for his commitment and optimism.”
After a thorough evaluation of the season, this was a tough choice to make, but it’s the right one. The organisation will never waver in its resolve to provide Lakers fans worldwide with basketball of championship calibre.
In each of the Lakers’ four series losses, they were unable to hold a double-digit lead, including a 20-point advantage in the second half of Game 2.
The Nuggets defeated the Lakers by a score of 24 points in their four victories during their postseason sweep last year; this time, it took Denver five games to win, with a 22-point margin of victory overall.
