Getty Lakers GM Rob Pelinka (left) and head coach Darvin Ham at a press conference
Former Golden State Warriors general manager Bob Myers gave his two cents on the Los Angeles Lakers‘ predicament before Wednesday’s loss to the Miami Heat.
“Look, with LeBron [James], it’s amazing how well he’s playing,” Pelinka said on NBA Countdown on January 3. “If you’re the GM, if you’re Rob [Pelinka], you cannot go into the deadline, and say, ‘Yeah, we’re 25 and 26. And we’re good.’ You won’t, they won’t. They just can’t do it. He won’t let him, by the way. He’s good at that.”
The Lakers’ 110-96 loss to the Heat brought them below .500 for the first time since the start of the In-Season Tournament. James left without speaking to reporters. Coach Darvin Ham’s seat is warming up. His key players Anthony Davis and Austin Reaves are already tired of using the team’s health as an excuse.
The next 18 games between now and the February 8 trade deadline will dictate this Lakers roster’s future. Ten of those games are at Crypto.com arena where they own an 11-5 record, including the jarring loss to a Heat team without Jimmy Butler.
“At the end of these home games, we’re gonna find out. And if we’re talking .500, we’re gonna make a change,” Myers said if he was in charge of the Lakers organization. “Right now it might make an argument we’ve seen a good version of ourselves in the In-Seasoun Tournament, but we got to see some better record. We can’t be .500. And then you would say we gotta move.”
Darvin Ham’s Job on the Line?
Ham’s seat is warming up based on The Athletic report that revealed cracks within the walls of the storied franchise, which reached the Western Conference Finals with virtually the same core.
“There’s currently a deepening disconnect between Darvin Ham and the Lakers locker room, six sources with direct knowledge of the situation say, raising questions about the head coach’s standing,” The Athletic’s Shams Charania and Jovan Buha wrote.
“The people spoke with The Athletic on condition of anonymity so that they could speak freely on the matter. Those sources have described that the disjointedness between the coach and team has stemmed from the extreme rotation and starting lineup adjustments recently from Ham, leading to a fluctuating rhythm for several players across the roster.”
Ham shuffled his starting lineup for the 10th time this season against the Heat. But the Reaves, Taurean Prince, Cam Reddish, James and Davis starting five finished with minus-3.
Usually, coaches are the first to go like what happened to Frank Vogel during his ill-fated last season with the team.
Austin Reaves Describes Lakers Locker Room As “Sh*Tty”
Reaves had his best game since the In-Season Tournament championship with 24 points and eight assists. Yet the loss stung him.
When they became the first-ever NBA In-Season Tournament champions, the vibes in the Lakers locker room were immaculate.
But right now?
“Sh*tty,” Reaves told reporters point-blank.
“We’re losing,” Reaves quickly added. “Anytime you lose, the vibe should be off, you know? If I went in there and the vibe wasn’t off after the rough stretch that we’ve had, then I’d be concerned.”
If the losses keep on piling up, heads will roll. Changes are inevitable.