The Los Angeles Lakers’ loss to the Atlanta Hawks will only exacerbate the arguments against Head Coach Darvin Ham, even though his team was missing players with injuries. This time it was Anthony Davis, whose groin injury caused him to miss the loss to Atlanta. But the flow en route to the final result of the game was reminiscent of many other losses this season.
“It may not matter what acquisitions the Lakers make since Ham has also been one of the NBA’s worst coaches and it appears he has lost the trust of his roster,” The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor wrote on January 30. “Blame is shared by everyone in charge. Hiring an unproven head coach was a risk by [General Manager Rob] Pelinka and Lakers owner Jeanie Buss from the beginning.”
The Lakers, in O’Connor’s opinion, require a “better head coach.” He also thinks LeBron James might be thinking about someone to take Ham’s place.
“If LeBron had the same level of influence as he did in Cleveland when David Blatt was fired in the middle of the 2015–16 campaign… By now, Ham would also have been fired, most likely in favor of assistant coach Phil Handy, according to O’Connor.
Buss was “too cheap,” according to O’Connor, to bring on Los Angeles Clippers head coach Ty Lue for 2019. One year after Frank Vogel was hired by the Lakers, Lue took Doc Rivers’ spot on the Clippers.
However, the notion that Handy might take Ham’s place is not entirely novel.
There is an increasing gulf between Ham and the Lakers locker room, according to reports from Shams Charania and Jovan Buha of The Athletic. The head coach’s lineup and rotation adjustments, some of which were brought on by injuries, were in question.
Ham maintained that the Lakers’ injuries were preventing them from being a consistent team in terms of lineups or on-court performance.
Austin Reaves and other players disagreed, claiming they had enough to be better than they actually were.
In the midst of rumors of unrest in the Lakers locker room, Darvin Ham takes a stand.
On January 5, Sam Amick of The Athletic wrote, “It doesn’t help Ham’s cause that his messaging has been so different from that of the players in the locker room.” The other consideration in this instance, as in all such cases, has to do with a potential substitute.
Speaking with those in the know about the issue, Phil Handy, the assistant coach of the Lakers, is more frequently mentioned as a potential option. Again, though, we’re not quite there yet.
Phil Handy: Who Is He?
One of the most well-liked basketball coaches is Handy. In the mid-1990s, he was a standout student at the University of Hawaii. In addition, Handy has won three NBA championships as a coach, including championships with the 2016 Cavaliers and 2020 Lakers teams that featured LeBron James.
He also helped unlock a new level of production for Lakers forward Rui Hachimura, whom the Lakers acquired ahead of the trade deadline last season.
James is one of the players with whom Handy already has a firm connection. However, Ham is also in danger of many of the same possible pitfalls. The biggest one is Handy’s inexperience as a head coach.
Handy stated that he opted to stay under Ham during the previous offseason rather than pursue a role with Vogel and the Phoenix Suns.
James is one of the players with whom Handy already has a firm connection. However, Ham is also in danger of many of the same possible pitfalls. The biggest one is Handy’s inexperience as a head coach.
Handy stated that he opted to stay under Ham during the previous offseason rather than pursue a role with Vogel and the Phoenix Suns.
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