Paper Guiluo City | Explain in detail that the Lakers brass countered that Ham was about to be fired, and winning was the only way out
"Heaven's troubles. "
When this Lakers-related text message appeared on my phone screen Thursday morning, a source close to the situation confirmed what our Shams Charania and Jovan Buha reported in the hours following the Lakers' 96-110 home loss to the Miami Heat on Wednesday night.
It's one thing for Ham to start his debut season with a 2-10 record, having just taken over Frank Vogel for five months last season, the first year of a four-year contract. He had the time and patience to make the most of that time, eventually leading the Lakers to a loss to the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference finals, but still achieving the most memorable comeback of the era. But the situation now – the free fall after winning the mid-season tournament, where they lost nine of their 12 games and their win rate fell below 50 per cent for the first time since 10 November – is a different story entirely.
Perhaps raising the midseason tournament flag in the arena that Bryant single-handedly built was a controversial choice, as things have been terrible for the Lakers ever since. Make no mistake, this argument is real.
However, as we are reminded every year, there is a big difference between the atmosphere around a coach going bad and the power brokers at his top actually deciding to make a change. In light of this, a Lakers top brass has pushed back against claims that Ham is about to be fired. Still, a lot of pressure is clearly being put on Hamm from within, and there's no better way to relieve that pressure than to win in the coming days or weeks.
The game against Miami was the start of 10 of the Lakers' 12 home games, 11 if you count the "away" game against the Clippers on January 23, and there were no back-to-back games. On Friday night, they will host the Memphis Grizzlies, a team that is not as bad as it was a few weeks ago, as the Grizzlies have won five of their eight games since Ja Morant returned from a 25-game ban on Dec. 19. The Clippers won 13 of their 15 games in the early days of the James Harden era and had an 11-game winning streak against the Lakers before the winning streak was broken on Nov. 3. The Lakers will host the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday and Phoenix on Thursday before traveling to Utah for a game on Jan. 13.
But obviously, the problem is that in the last three weeks or so, nothing can make you feel like they're going to think of a way to change anytime soon. Since LeBron James won the tournament MVP honor against the Indiana Pacers in the midseason championship and their world is on the rise, the Lakers rank 23rd in net difference, 24th in offensive efficiency and 18th in defensive efficiency, with a 3-9 record. In comparison, they previously had a 14-9 record, ranking 15th in the league in goal difference, 22nd in the league in offense, and 7th in the league in defense.
More specifically, it's a big problem, as the rotation work that the top office hyped up over the summer — namely the re-signing of D'Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves and Hachimura — led to this mess after these players worked together in last year's playoffs. As Buha detailed during his guest appearance on The Athletic NBA Show's Tampering podcast this week, Ham's message in the locker room was very different from that of the players, and it didn't help his career in any way (essentially, Ham has been highlighting the impact of the Lakers' injury problems, while the players have been preaching responsibility and the urgent need to turn things around).
In this case, another factor is always related to possible replacements. It's no surprise that "Doc Rivers" has been a trending topic on social media in the hours following the Lakers' report, as the former Magic/Celtics/Clippers/76ers head coach and current ESPN analyst is currently optional. When you talk to someone closer to the situation, Lakers assistant coach Phil Handy is more often brought up as a possible candidate. But again, we're not there yet.
Since the end of the Phil Jackson era in 2011, the Lakers have changed head coaches six times, seven times if you count Bernie Bickerstaff's five interim terms in 2012. Owner Jenny Bass assesses the situation with Rob Pelinka, vice president of basketball operations, and she certainly won't forget this inglorious fact. If the team can play better as soon as possible, it will be a lot easier for everyone involved.
As Ham often said last season, his Lakers used to beat a lot of odds when he shared that the team's analytics department thought they had a 0.3% chance of making the playoffs. But the question now is whether Ham can convince the Lakers to follow him down the dangerous road again before he pays the price for his stumbles.