On May 4, Beijing time, the Lakers officially announced that the team officially fired head coach Davin Ham. A number of reporters with the team revealed more inside stories of the class, and the multi-person shortlist for the new head coach of the Lakers was also exposed.
After the Lakers officially announced their parting ways with Ham, a statement from general manager Pelinka was also released. "We are very grateful to Davin [Ham] for his efforts for the Lakers and recognize his many accomplishments over the past two seasons, including his stellar performance in the Western Conference Finals last season," Pelinka said in a statement. We all owe him a debt of gratitude for his dedication and enthusiasm. While it was a difficult decision, it was the best option after a thorough evaluation of the entire season. The team will remain steadfast in its commitment to continuing to bring championship-caliber basketball to Lakers fans around the world. ”
The Athletic reported that Pelinka, after interviews and consultations with Lakers players, finally decided to make adjustments in the coaching position in an attempt to maximize the championship window for James and the thick eyebrows. Ham has two years left on his four-year contract, and after being fired, the Lakers will still pay him a total of $10 million for the remaining two years.
A look back at Hamm's two years at the helm
In Ham's two seasons in charge, the Lakers finished the regular season with a 90-74 record (54.9 percent win rate) and a 9-12 record in the playoffs (42.9 percent win rate). In 2022, he was hired to succeed Vogel and lead the Lakers to the inaugural Midseason Championship last December.
After being eliminated by the Nuggets, Ham talked about what it was like to coach the Lakers. "It's been a terrible two years...... I tell you," Ham said. "Sitting in this seat, it's been a terrible two years. There are a lot of good things, but at the end of the day, you want to win the final prize. ”
The Lakers before Ham took over, only 33-49 in the 2021-22 season, and in the first season after Ham took over, the Lakers started with only 2-10, and they made a complete overhaul of the roster at the trade deadline, parting ways with Willis and bringing in Russell, Vanderbilt and Hachimura. They defeated the Timberwolves in the play-offs to become the seventh seed in the West, then defeated the second-seeded Grizzlies and the sixth-seeded Warriors before being swept by the future champions, the Nuggets, in the Western Conference finals.
The Lakers got off to a poor start again this season, going 3-5 and after winning their first midseason title, they went on a 15-11 slump and dropped to 13th place in the West in January. The Lakers bounced back and went on a 23-win run from 33 fights as they defeated the Pelicans in the play-in tournament to become the No. 7 seed in the West again. Subsequently, the first round of the playoffs lost 1-4 to the Nuggets and was eliminated.
It is worth mentioning that the Nuggets swept the Lakers last season, with a net win of 24 points in four wins, and this time, the Nuggets used one more game to eliminate the Lakers, and the net score of the four wins was 22 points.
Reveal more inside the story of Hamm's class
After Hamm got out of class, Lakersdaily revealed more inside information about his dismissal for the first time. Throughout the season, there have been many reports of a disconnect between Ham and the Lakers players, most recently, after the Lakers lost a G2 game, Thick Eyebrow said, "We sometimes don't know what we're doing on both ends of the floor", Ham disagreed with Thick Eyebrow at the time, and attributed his words to the frustration and emotions after the loss.
"When I saw Ham's reaction to Davis, I knew he was finished," said one Lakers source, "and he's a very confident guy who has been questioned about his playmaking skills and never gets anything good." You can't say your star is emotional either. ”
Hamm's problems in the locker room started early, but it was too late to really improve. According to people familiar with the matter, the core members of the team felt themselves victims last year, with the exception of James and Davis, who were all on the bench at different stages of the season. Ham and Pelinka individually finalized the list of new signings for the season, with Ham once trusting the new signings more, and when Prince, rather than Hachimura, became the starter at the start of the season, many players in the team were shocked, and no one had a problem with Prince, except that many in the locker room and the team wondered why a plan that had been in place for months was thrown out the window at the start of the season.
Hachimura, Reaves and Russell were all demoted to the bench, while the reused Prince and Reddish did not live up to expectations. At this time, many people lost faith in Hamm, the source said. "Once you lose the locker room like this, you can't get it back,"
Commenting on Ham's performance with the Lakers, a Western Conference assistant coach said, "If you're good at tactics, then you might lack some communication skills, and if you're good at communication, you can make up for some tactical deficiencies." You can't do both, but he's obviously struggling on both fronts. ”
Ham is the first Lakers coach since Phil Jackson in 2011 to be fired immediately after leading his team to the playoffs. Woj revealed on the live stream that Ham is expected to attract interest from other NBA teams looking for a new coach in the near future.
The shortlist of candidates for the new manager has been revealed
After Ham leaves class, the Lakers will start the investigation of the new coach as soon as possible. This will be the third time the Lakers have been looking for a new head coach in the last six offseasons, and the new head coach will also be the Lakers' eighth head coach since the 2011-12 season.
The Athletic reports that the candidates who have been identified so far are Budenholzer, Atkinson, JJ Redick, and if the Clippers fire Tyronn Lue after this year's playoffs, Coach Lue will also be a candidate. Woike, a Lakers reporter for the Los Angeles Times, reported that some excellent assistant coaches are also worth paying attention to, such as Nuggets assistant David Adelman and Timberwolves assistant Norrie both have a high reputation within the Lakers. Lakers reporter Buha also mentioned Celtics assistant coach Charles Lee.
The Lakers' last head coach selection looked at more than a dozen candidates and finally finalized the appointment of Ham for the roster, and this time it is expected to be a similar situation. Los Angeles also mentioned that the Lakers may consult with James before making a decision to see who his selection is. It was previously reported that James would most like the Lakers coach to be Tyronn Lue.
Of those drafts, Tyronn Lue is the least likely to be hired because the Clippers want to sign Lue to a long-term contract extension. "I don't think it's realistic [for Lue to be the Lakers head coach], he has one year left on his contract, and as far as I know, the Clippers have decided to sign Lue to a long-term contract and want him to be the head coach of the Clippers for a long time," Woj said. It was supposed to be a conversation that would have happened at the end of the playoffs, but they loved the work that Lue has done this season, and there are signs that Lue will still be the head coach of the Clippers. ”
A closer look at the three main candidates
Since it is basically impossible for Lue to be the head coach of the Lakers, the new coach of the Lakers is likely to be produced from the three mentioned by The Athletic, and the American media has also analyzed the situation of the three in detail.
1. Budenholzer
Budenholzer, 54, won the championship as the head coach of the Bucks in 2021. He spent 17 years as an assistant coach under Spurs head coach Popovich, during which time he won four championships, before becoming head coach of the Hawks from 2013 to 2018 and head coach of the Bucks from 2018 to 2023. His coaching record is 484-317.
Budenholzer's team tends to be better defensively than offensively, with his team ranking in the top five in defensive efficiency in five of its 10 seasons, and of course his recent Bucks team has been elite on both ends of the floor. The two-time Coach of the Year was a mentor to Ham, who worked under Budenholzer from 2013 to 2022 as an assistant coach for the Hawks and Bucks. A common criticism of Budenholzer is that he has been too slow to adjust in the playoffs, and Ham has received similar comments.
2. Reddick
The 39-year-old has emerged as one of the hottest coaching candidates on the market, with a 15-year NBA veteran retiring in 2021 with no professional coaching experience. But he is considered to be a sharp basketball mind, and given his intelligence, competitiveness, and communication skills, he would naturally turn to coaching. Reddick recently co-hosted the Mind the Game podcast with James, which delves into the strategy and execution of the game. He is also a candidate for the new coach of the Hornets.
But. Redick's lack of coaching experience has caused heated discussions. Lakers reporter Ward said: "I don't think it makes sense to choose Redick. Another newbie, and he doesn't have any coaching experience? What's the logic behind that?"
3. Atkinson
Atkinson, 56, took over as head coach of the Nets in 2016 and parted ways with the team in 2020. He has been an assistant coach for 11 years (2008-12 with the New York Knicks, 2013-16 with the Atlanta Hawks, 2020-21 with the Clippers under Lue, 2021-present with the Golden State Warriors). He is widely regarded as one of the top assistant coaches in the league and has attracted interest from several teams in recent years.
The Athletic reports that the Lakers will be looking for more coaching candidates in the market, with expectations they will be interested in more than six coaching candidates and begin interviews in the coming days.