The Los Angeles Lakers are a flawed team. Roster-wise, chemistry-wise, and basketball-wise, they’re just not good enough to compete for an NBA championship right now, not even with LeBron James and Anthony Davis playing at a high level. Then again, not everything is lost.
Darvin Ham’s team has shown glimpses of great play when healthy and locked in, but those are two things that haven’t happened very often. No one can be blamed for injuries, but the coach should be held accountable for not having his team ready to perform night in and night out.
That’s why it wasn’t surprising to see the reports of an alleged disconnect between the locker room and their coach. Fortunately for them, Ham decided to face the criticism face-first, holding an ‘unfiltered film session’ to hear the players’ feedback.
Darvin Ham Hosts ‘Unfiltered Film Session’
“‘Hell yeah I open the floor,’” Ham told The Athletic. “‘Give me some feedback. I don’t have pride. My pride is not crazy. My ego — all that. We had a couple (players) speak up. I’ll just leave it there, but we had a few guys speak up. And right or wrong, I love it. I agreed with most of it, and I disagreed with some.’”
The Lakers have dropped multiple games they were supposed to win because of sloppy play and an inability to come back from behind. Ham’s adjustments have come too late or not at all, and you can tell the players are frustrated with the way they’re being coached.
This is pretty much the same team that made it to the Western Conference Finals last season, but they may have peaked already. Whatever the case, it’s up to the coach to find some answers, and props to him for listening to his players and keeping an open door.
SURVEY Should the Lakers fire Ham?
Should the Lakers fire Ham?
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