The Los Angeles Lakers fired head coach Darwin Hamm on Friday after two seasons and a 90-74 regular season record. Today we will discuss about Lakers fire Darvin Ham: Joel Embiid’s legacy,DLo ahead of Game 4.
Lakers fire Darvin Ham: Joel Embiid’s legacy,DLo ahead of Game 4
Darwin Ham’s seat was on fire from the moment he arrived in Los Angeles to become the Lakers’ next head coach.
Or the next scapegoat, depending on how one looks at it.
Getting eliminated in the first round a year after making an improbable run to the conference finals is never as easy as the expectations that come with coaching two generations of players – each with their own unique needs that make matters worse. Makes it seriously complicated.
It’s never easy with the Lakers, never easy with LeBron James, who used his own moments of levity after the Lakers were ousted by the defending champion Denver Nuggets on Monday night.
But maybe it’s as simple as the Lakers firing Ham after two seasons because they wanted to do it, because it was settled in their minds long enough that they gathered enough evidence to say that Ham was a good fit going forward. Will not be a person who grows.
You fire a coach because he loses a locker room, the players lose confidence in him and the front office can’t instill confidence in the players – but no one was going to be Hamm’s advocate anyway.
Given how many teams in today’s league considered themselves title contenders only to be sent home before May, let alone June, this is a predictable outcome. Coaches are compensated handsomely, but they can be easily disposed of.
One could argue, or not, that you could fire 20 of the 30 NBA coaches this season – if you really wanted to fire them. The Lakers see little reason to retain coaches, even with Pat Riley and Phil Jackson, who are on the short list of the greatest players of all time.
The coach is not a star. There are the players, and then in a way, it’s probably Lakers governor Jenny Buss. And for the star franchise of the All-Star franchise, it was bound to happen.
Assuming James returns for his seventh season in Los Angeles, this will be his fourth coach as a Laker, and 10th in 21 seasons. This is an average of two years.
Joel Embiid’s legacy
A losing locker room and a disappointing performance in the playoffs led to a short stay in Los Angeles for Darwin Hamm.
The Lakers fired Hamm on Friday after leading the team for two seasons.
“We greatly appreciate Darwin’s efforts on behalf of the Lakers and acknowledge the many accomplishments he has made over the past two seasons, including a remarkable performance in the Western Conference Finals last year,” Pelinka said in a statement. “We all want to thank Darwin for his dedication and positivity. Although this decision was difficult to make, it is the best course of action after a full review of the season.
The organization will remain steadfast in its commitment to providing championship-caliber basketball to Lakers fans around the world.
All of Hamm’s coaches were also fired as part of the changes, ESPN reports.
Hamm, in his first stint as head coach, went 90–74 in his two seasons, ending the season with a five-game series loss to the Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs.
While expectations are always high for the Lakers, especially with stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis on the roster, Ham could not lead Los Angeles back to the NBA Finals.
Lakers fire Darvin Ham: Joel Embiid’s legacy,DLo ahead of Game 4
This season is a clear step backward after last year’s surprising run to the Western Conference Finals, where the Nuggets swept the Lakers to the championship.
The Lakers finished with the eighth-best record in the Western Conference at 47–35 and then blew the lead during their series loss to the Nuggets.
Not being able to hold a lead can put a coach under the microscope and it didn’t help Ham that Lakers players questioned his coaching strategies.
Haim defended himself after Davis’ comments, but it may have been too little, too late.
“I don’t think it was not being organized,” Hamm said, according to The Athletic. “I feel like I have incredible knowledge and I am completely focused on my staff. We take pride in ourselves – whether it’s practice, shootarounds, film sessions, games,
DLo ahead of Game 4
So perhaps Hamm was right on time in this regard.
Coaching James at this advanced stage of his career doesn’t produce patience for even the best of strategists.
But who looks at this roster and who looks at the championship team? Or championship contenders? Not in this NBA, not this year. And for that, every member of the Lakers braintrust should take a strong look in the mirror.
On the face of it, the Lakers were an inconsistent group. They won the in-season tournament in impressive fashion, but a 2–9 start immediately following the win in Vegas, coupled with inconsistent use of a roster that was not as well prepared as advertised, played a role in their destruction. Played.
If that’s the case, if keeping Austin Reeves on the bench for a stretch or playing Taurean Prince a little longer is the reason why Rob Pelinka and Co. sent Hamm his walking papers, it would only mean perfection, maybe he did the right thing. Didn’t call a timeout in time, and perhaps he should have ignored Davis’ comments about players not knowing what they were doing during the game instead of launching into a good defense of his plan and the coaching staff’s preparation. , but he did not do so.
“Sometimes plays don’t go the way we think they should and it’s a little frustrating,” Hamm said before Game 3 in Los Angeles. “But I don’t think it was not being organized. We have talented coaches on staff, we pride ourselves on being highly efficient and organized. I’ll agree to disagree on that.” Enough of the ham.
But if he didn’t show confidence, if he gave Davis full recognition, then we would be saying that he is not suitable to coach this team under these circumstances. There was no defense or explanation that would have sufficed because by then, everyone in Lakerland knew what was going to happen, and that Ham would be the culprit.
And this gets to the crux of the issue: If Hamm had to be perfect for this franchise to keep his job as a first-time head coach, then maybe he shouldn’t have been hired in the first place.
