Recently, according to Yahoo reporter Sam Amico, multiple sources revealed that many Lakers players privately informed that they want the team's assistant coach Phil Handy to replace Ham as the new head coach of the Lakers. It is reported that Lakers stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis have expressed their disappointment with Ham, and players such as Eight Inches dare not speak out.
In the card battle against the Warriors, the Lakers eventually lost due to the absence of thick eyebrows. But during the game, Ham had a rant at James. At that time, Hamm was holding the tactical board and wanted to make some tactical arrangements for the team's next round of attack. But Lao Zhan listened halfway, then got up and left his seat and walked straight to other places. For such a move, many media have also interpreted, maybe Ham is running out of time with the Lakers.
As early as the beginning of the season, the Lakers lost more and won less, and there were rumors of a change of coach. At that time, the Lakers were not satisfied with Ham's lineup, and there were problems with the rotation arrangement, which led to the team losing. But Russell's outburst reversed the decline. At that time, the Lakers players wanted Handy to replace him, but owner Jeanie Buss gave Ham a lot of support, and the old Zhan also spoke for Ham, and the matter came to an end.
To be honest, this is not the first time that Old Zhan has ignored Hamm's teachings. He is also more or less skeptical about Hamm's coaching skills, so much so that many times he prefers to communicate tactics with Handy. If Ham lacks the support of Lao Zhan, perhaps his Lakers coaching career is over. After all, James is the voice of the Lakers.
As the saying goes, whoever wins the hearts of the people wins the world, and Ham can't get the full help of most of the players in the Lakers, so he rushes to the locker room to unite this, and Ham has to get out of class. In addition, Hamm did not lead the team to a good result. The team has been stagnant for three years in a row, and this can also give him a drink.
Hamm's tactics are very cute, sometimes he can indeed beat strong teams in an upset, but sometimes he will also send warmth to others by a large score. Often put on a lineup of 4 or even 5 backs, which is confusing. So much so that when Lao Zhan took a break from the game, he would take away Hamm's right to coach and personally arrange tactics for the team. The previous starburst tactics were from Lao Zhan's hands.
In the Suns beat the Clippers 124-108. The Lakers officially missed out on the top six in the West and joined the play-in race. It is worth mentioning that this is the third time that the Lakers have played in the play-offs in the last four years.
Previous 2 times: in 2021, the Lakers trailed the Warriors by 12 points at most, and finally defeated the Warriors 103-100 to advance to the playoffs with 7th place in the West (lost to the Suns 2-4 in the first round), and in 2023, the Lakers trailed the Timberwolves by 15 points at most, and finally defeated the Timberwolves 108-102 to advance to the playoffs with 7th in the West (lost to the Nuggets 0-4 in the Western Conference finals).
However, Ham is not brainless, and in an interview with the media, he still praised Lao Zhan: "I think LeBron is phenomenal." In the last 48 hours, he has experienced everything and given everything. We missed some goals that we would normally be able to throw. It's a league where you can win and lose if you don't. He did everything in his power to lead the team to win the game, but it didn't work. We weren't able to do that. ”
On the one hand, the players want to change the coach, and on the other hand, the team owner Libao, as the general manager of the team, Pelinka, is now also difficult to ride.