The Los Angeles Lakers appear be in a better place now that they have head coach JJ Redick running the team instead of Darvin Ham.
Ham spent two seasons in Los Angeles, leading them to the playoffs both times though still found himself looking for a new job after flaming out in the first round last year.
He landed back on his feet with the Milwaukee Bucks and is doing well for himself as the team won the Emirates NBA Cup and is in the playoff mix. The Bucks notably didn’t celebrate their championship and Bobby Portis took a shot at the Lakers in the aftermath, saying Milwaukee isn’t Hollywood.
Portis is now serving a suspension for violating the league’s anti-drug policy, but with the Lakers and Bucks scheduled to play for the first time on Thursday, he said the Milwaukee players will be fired up to win for Ham, via Run It Back:
“It’s going to be a fun game to play,” Portis said. “We played them two times last year, obviously we’re in the East Coast and they’re a West Coast team so you play those teams only one time at home each so it’s always a fun game to play. Our games last year actually went down to the wire, we actually lost both games by like under three, or four or five points so it was great games to play in.
“Obviously, for Coach Ham it’s a big moment for him so I think our guys will be fired up for him to go out there and get a W. On the other side they’ll be fired up and not wanting their coach to beat them, so it’s just gonna be a great game for TV. Hopefully that game is somewhere live nationally, I think it’s a great storyline behind it and it’s a great game to follow. Two good matchups with two veteran savvy teams, two playoff style teams. It should be a good game, hopefully it’s broadcasted somewhere. Hopefully the world can see us go at it and hoop. I love those types of games, I love the competitive spirit. One of my biggest qualities and traits as a player is my competitive spirit and I live for those types of games.”
With how things ended between the Lakers and Ham, the latter will have every reason to want to beat his former team. However, the players from last year’s roster will be equally motivated to beat Ham so it’ll be interesting to see who comes out on top.
Regardless, that is now two shots that Portis has taken at the Lakers in recent months, so it is unfortunate that he won’t be able to play in the both matchups between the teams.
Darvin Ham unsure why he was fired amidst Lakers improvements
Darvin Ham’s track record with the Lakers isn’t bad on paper which is why he remains unsure why he was let go despite the job he did.
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