The Los Angeles Lakers have dealt with spurts of disappointing play this season. They started the year 3-5, and although they won 11 of their next 15 games, they then went through a horrible slump for much of December and into early January.
By mid-January, Los Angeles was 19-21, which was a far cry from the expectations many had for it when the season started. As a result, head coach Darvin Ham was made into the scapegoat by fans, many of whom attacked him on social media and practically begged for him to be fired.
It looks like fans weren’t the only ones who wanted Ham gone. According to a report, players on the team also wanted him to be shown the door.
Via Hoops Wire:
“A source told Hoops Wire that Lakers players wanted assistant coach Phil Handy to replace Ham earlier in the season,” wrote Ashish Mathur. “However, Los Angeles owner Jeanie Buss is a fan of Ham, and she has never thought about firing him as coach, the source said.
“LeBron (James), arguably the greatest player in NBA history, has ignored Ham in many huddles this season and communicated with Handy instead on what the Lakers should run, the source said.”
Mathur also named Anthony Davis and forward Rui Hachimura as two players who are down on Ham.
There was at least one report earlier this season about how Lakers players were unhappy about Ham’s coaching. In fact, according to some sources, if the team doesn’t make the playoffs this season, his job may not be safe this summer.
After recently winning nine of 10 games, the Lakers have lost two in a row, at least partly due to James and Davis being compromised by health issues. They’re clinging to ninth place in the Western Conference and are just half a game ahead of the 10th-place Golden State Warriors.