Darvin Ham makes up the worst excuse for Lakers' struggles against Nikola Jokic

Throughout the course of NBA history, we’ve seen countless coaches getting exposed and looking way over their heads in the playoffs. That seems to be the case with Darvin Ham and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Ham has failed to get a single win over the Denver Nuggets in their last nine matchups, dating back to last season’s Western Conference Finals. Mike Malone keeps coaching circles around him, coming back from big deficits over and over.

Needless to say, a lot of that has had to do with Nikola Jokic’s dominance. And while no one should be to blame for struggling against the best player in the world, Ham recently set a new low for an all-time terrible excuse.

Darvin Ham Claims The Lakers Have More Adjustments For Nikola Jokic

Following their loss in Game 1, the Lakers’ second-year coach claimed that his team still had more adjustments to defend Jokic, but they didn’t want to use them all in Game 1:

Nikola Jokic of Denver Nuggets

“Darvin Ham says the Lakers have a couple more adjustments they’re going to throw at Nikola Jokic. He added the Lakers didn’t want to use all of their adjustments in Game 1,” Jovan Buha reported.

That seems like a bold strategy. Instead of getting a win on the road and stealing homecourt advantage, he chose to let their lead slip and save an adjustment for, say, next season.

LeBron James Wants Them To Pay Attention To Detail

There have been multiple reports and instances in which LeBron James has blatantly ignored Darvin Ham’s instructions. Now, he put his coach on notice by urging him and his team to pay attention to detail:

“I’ve never played on a championship team that didn’t pay attention to detail,” the four-time NBA champion said. “There’s no ifs, ands or buts about it. You have to.”

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NBA Playoffs 2024: LeBron James explains why past doesn"t matter in Lakers vs Nuggets

All things considered, Darvin Ham was a bit of an odd choice for the Lakers to begin with. They replaced a championship-winning coach with a lifelong assistant to coach LeBron James, and the results have been far from surprising.