Getty Darvin Ham of the Los Angeles Lakers.
This is a crucial stretch for the Los Angeles Lakers, as they are hoping to make a push toward the playoffs after missing the postseason last year. Injuries are standing in their way, as LeBron James is set to miss multiple weeks, but with Anthony Davis still in the lineup, they should be able to compete.
Despite that, the Lakers faltered on Friday night, dropping a game to the Minnesota Timberwolves. After the game, head coach Darvin Ham delivered a rant via Spectrum SportsNet, calling his team out:
Well, I think when you’re trying to go out each and every day, game day, non-game day, and you’re trying to see how you can be the best versions of yourself, I don’t see why or how that could be pressing. We’re in this position. We told our team, ‘We just have to take them one game at a time.’ We can’t be locked in for two and a half, three hours, out of a 24 hour day? I’ve been around this thing [for] 26 years. Multiple championships. Multiple trips to, as a player and a coach, to the postseason. If someone has to tell you that you can’t be locked in – we do basketball for a living. Someone shouldn’t have to tell you to be locked in. We get paid millions of dollars to do basketball for a living, which only takes, whether it’s a practice, a shootaround, a game, anywhere from an hour, sometimes 45 minutes, to two and a half, three hours. A sport. We’re not digging ditches all day. We’re not building homes. We’re not doing construction. Risking our lives. We’re doing basketball for a living. And we’re playing for one of the most recognizable, historic franchises on the face of the earth. The most. If that doesn’t motivate you to go out and try to be the best version of yourself, I don’t know what will. And we talk about it. And we pour into our players to try to make them better, individually and collectively. And so, we’re gonna keep preaching it, we’re gonna keep harping on it until there’s no time left and there’s just no chance of us doing it. But until then, we’re putting our best foot forward every day. Trust me.
Lakers Fans Turn on Darvin Ham
However, Lakers fans did not react well to his speech.
Instead of buying into what Ham had to say, fans quickly turned on him. They disliked his style of rant, with one fan even comparing it to the movie “Hoosiers,” stating how sick they are of listening to that type of monologue from Ham.
Fans were also critical of Ham’s in-game decisions after the loss. At one point, Davis lost his shoe, but there was no timeout called, leaving Davis to play shoeless. This incident came one game after Ham didn’t call a timeout when Dennis Schroder got trapped in crunch time against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Both of the mishaps should be blamed on Ham, according to one fan.
Ham’s rotational decisions were also questioned, as one fan believed Austin Reaves should have been on the floor over Schroder against the Timberwolves, as he’s the better shooter.
Some fans even called for Ham to be fired.
Darvn Ham Explains Anthony Davis Sitting
This incident comes not long after Ham was forced to explain why Davis sat out a crucial game against the Thunder despite not actually being injured. He said that the Lakers are still prioritizing Davis’ long-term health and won’t risk that for one game.
“We’re trying to win all of these games,” Ham said via Kyle Goon of The Orange County Register. “But as I mentioned the other night in regards to LeBron, due to the circumstance we don’t want the circumstances of winning or losing games to dictate how we handle our players’ health.”