> After an evening spent trying to read the proverbial Lakers room, speaking to anyone and everyone who might have substantive insight into the question of whether Ham is truly in trouble at the moment, it’s the informed opinion of this particular NBA scribe that he would not have been fired even if they had lost Sunday.
> There’s a significant factor in play here that should not be forgotten: While Ham has issues to resolve both in his locker room and elsewhere within Laker Land, he has the continued support of owner Jeanie Buss.
> Darvin: “I’m just thankful that I’ve got that support from Jeanie, with her always encouraging me, asking me ‘What do I need? Is everything great?’”
> Unlike the Vogel situation, where Buss was known to believe the former coach was largely to blame for the failed integration of Russell Westbrook and ultimately greenlighted his April 2022 firing … all signs point to the Lakers’ most important decision-maker standing by the coach who is in the second year of a four-year deal.
> There’s a mutual respect in that relationship, one that resulted in Buss sending a lengthy text message of support to Ham in the wake of Thursday’s report in The Athletic.
> One day after … a 110-96 Heat win in which the Lakers had 21 turnovers, Ham decided that an unfiltered film session with his team was in order. … he decided to open the floor to any and all players who wanted to share their frustrations. The result, he said, was the kind of communication that should help them going forward.
[Source](https://theathletic.com/5186615/2024/01/08/darvin-ham-lakers-jeanie-buss-nba/?source=user_shared_articleDarvinHamhasthebackingofthemostimportantLaker:ownerJeanieBuss)
by Odd-Direction9452
28 Comments
He should probably give it back to her
Cause shes a cheap trash owner that doesn’t care if we win or lose as long as the fans fill the seats. When lebron leaves there will be many dark times ahead.
So Vogel gets a gutted roster w/ 80% of players who would be out of the nba the following year and is blamed for his failure of a season?
Darvin has had the healthiest non-2020 LeBron / AD year and we are a game below .500?
How does this make sense? This feels way more of a ‘I judge my coaches by vibes’ moreso than anything
Two people who have no idea what they’re doing
I’m wondering why she didn’t afford Vogel the same kind of long slack she is giving Ham, especially after Frank brought home a title.
Why not hold the people accountable who obtained Westbrook, instead of Frank for not being able to use him?
I don’t think he’s completely lost the locker room yet. Christian Wood was definitely playing with a chip on his shoulder last night and I think he was one of the players who had a bit of an issue with his minutes as he should. I think AD and Lebron both know that there’s a better option, but are both confident enough in their individual abilities to get the team over the hump. D.Lo looks like he knows his days as a Laker are numbered and his chemistry with the rest of the team just isn’t there and it showed at times in last nights game. In terms of rotations I think last night was one of the better nights we’ve had rotation wise. 9 guys played and while some think Cam Reddish shouldn’t be in the rotation he’s proven himself to be more valuable than Vando so far this year. Max also has some potential, but i think now is not really the time to be experimenting with him. Give him a solid 15 minutes a game and see what he can do with it. It’s taken Ham way too long to figure out this team, but if he sticks to giving Wood minutes over Hayes then that’s a step in the right direction. I don’t think Rob Pelinka is going anywhere, but I’d say he’s more in the hot seat than coach Ham is, because he’s responsible for roster construction and so far he’s been blowing smoke up everybody’s ass with the moves he’s made.
5 year contract sheesh
hope FO at least hires an actual vet coach tho to help out
Because she is cheappppppp
He pipes her. Plain and simple.
Looks like dark times are coming for the Lakers. As long as she is there the team will always be a few players away and for some that will be good enough.
“governor” owner is an outdated term in the NBA.
Where was this job security for Vogel?
LMAO we are lost
Cuz the boss is cheap. No way is she gonna pay for 2 head coaches.
Same owner that would tweet that she would draft certain players because they were “cute” to her
What a joke the biggest franchise in Basketball is ran by incompetence
Yeah we’re fucked
Thank You LeBron for 2020
Sorry Lakers couldn’t get you another chip
I’m think I’m ready for the brothers to try and take over…Jeanie has made dumb move after move for everything attributable to her including making her buddies the gm and vp of bball ops, sticking with Walton for too long, involving Rambis in literally anything, and giving Han history’s longest leash…she has also helmed the worst era in franchise history.
Darvin giving Jennie back shots with his hands in his pocket
It’s Lebrover
“Lakers’ most important decision-maker standing by the coach who is in the second year of a four-year deal”
This is the full story right there. PPP Jeanie is not going waste 2.5 years of salary. Same reason why Jeanie gave a long deal to a rookie coach, but not to a championship coach like Lue. Same reason why she let Caruso walk away for nothing. Same reason Lakers were the only NBA team who applied for a PPP loan.
Laker is run as its on the verge of bankruptcy, and not like a franchise where fans pay $150 for a single nosebleed ticket in January, and not like a franchise that got a 3 billion dollar cable deal. Lakers got a big advantage with their location and legacy and can attract a star like Lebron. But they don’t return Lebron’s loyalty with competence, they’re going to pinch every penny they can out of the situation.
I mean her pocket!!! I can’t understand how you can give 2 or even 3 years contract to a rookie coach. Two years with extension if both parties agree. I mean, it is not as if 10 teams were rushing for his signature.
I’m confident we can put to rest the idea that it was LeBron and AD who overturned Pelinka’s position on the Russ trade, it was Jeanie, and the coaching decisions are what make this clear.
Why would we pass up on experienced, X’s and O’s focused coaches after firing Vogel, instead hiring a rookie HC who was expected from day 1 to be a players’ coach? Why would we can Vogel so quickly despite the roster construction being BY FAR the biggest downfall of the team, and by contrast why would we not can Ham when he’s almost singlehandedly responsible for our ridiculous underperformance this year? Furthermore, why does he have such strong support from the FO when he’s been so clearly a detriment to the team?
It almost sounds like there’s some cheap ass owner in charge who desperately wanted a big swing move for an exciting player, refused to believe she messed up thus pinning it on Vogel, and now is completely backing Ham because he went so far out of his way to try and make Russ work.
All you guys were pissed off at vogel too because his offense was dogshit. Ham is considerably worse. He should be an assistant coach, doesn’t seem like he knows how to design an offensive scheme at all. His defensive scheme is outdated. Look at the guys over helping on drives and playing drop coverage praying the other team misses 3s. Lakers need a top tier caliber coach but they shot themselves in the foot by treating vogel so badly. Other coaches around the league noticed.
don’t read into anything too much, “yea no jeanie hates my guts so I’m just here” what is he supposed to say? this is all PR lip service.
You think if he really was on the hot seat his nickname would be Hot Pockets?