The Los Angeles Lakers did it. They made the Play-in Tournament after starting the season 2-10 and looking like a lottery team for the first half of the season. Coach Darvin Ham delivered, and so did the players.
But there’s still a long and winding road ahead of them. They need to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves to secure a spot in the playoffs, and then they’ll have to beat multiple teams on the road.
That’s way easier said than done, especially in today’s NBA. But the coach is fully optimistic about his team’s chances, and he knows they’ll always have a chance for as long as LeBron James and Anthony Davis are out there.
Darvin Ham Talks About The Lakers Playoff Chances
“We’re just looking forward to the opportunity,” Ham told The Athletic. “Starting where we started at earlier in the year, and now sitting where we find ourselves sitting, we’re excited. Guys are ready to go. We’ve got great synergy in our locker room. Need to clean up some stuff defensively, but outside of that, we’re ready to go.”
“These stakes are high and a lot of times, I don’t want to call it pressure, but the challenges of guys knowing what’s at stake can weigh on them a little bit. But here we are, we know what’s in front of us,” Ham continued.
“I just think the sky’s the limit, man,” Ham said. “I think if we’re healthy and we get the team to pay attention to detail and continue to alleviate mistakes that may be a little repetitive and sustain the things we’re doing well, I think sky’s the limit. Any team with LeBron James and a healthy Anthony Davis, D’Lo, Dennis, Austin – all these guys – Vando … We’re not going to put a ceiling on our own selves.”
That’s what you want to hear from your coach. Ham has made the guys buy into his system, and the Lakers finally look like a unit on both ends of the floor. So, who knows? If one team can make history, it might as well be them.