Lakers reportedly had 1 big complaint about Darvin Ham

Nov 30, 2022; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers coach Darvin Ham at a press conference during the game against the Portland Trail Blazers at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Ball may not have been life for Darvin Ham with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Jovan Buha of The Athletic reported this week on the Lakers’ ongoing search for a new coach. Buha notes that frontrunner JJ Redick leaves “no doubts” about his strong work ethic. That apparently comes in sharp contrast to the former Lakers head coach Ham, who reportedly faced “common internal complaints” about his lack of preparation.

It is also worth noting that Lakers guard Austin Reaves had some comments earlier this week that many interpreted as a shot at Ham. Reaves indicated that he was hoping for a new head coach with a solid work ethic.

Austin Reaves:

“I don't know when they're hiring a coach… But hopefully we get somebody that comes to work every single day the way that we do ready to go try to win a championship.”

(h/t @DStarkand) pic.twitter.com/XvFSmodSwf

— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) June 4, 2024

Ham, a former NBA champion assistant with the Milwaukee Bucks but one with no prior head coaching experience, was in charge of the Lakers for the last two seasons. Though he led the team to a respectable record of 90-74 (.549) and a Western Conference Finals berth in 2023, Ham’s shoddy in-game management became apparent during the Lakers’ two playoff series against the Denver Nuggets in back-to-back years. The Lakers lost eight of those nine playoff games to Denver, despite going down to the wire and/or leading by double digits in many of them.

With that little success against the exact same opponent, many chalked it up to a lack of proper gameplanning by Ham. Moving ahead after Ham’s firing however, it appears the Lakers have no such qualms about Redick (though there is still another candidate in the mix for the head coach job right now).