Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham has found himself in the rumor mill the past couple of days amid the recent struggles the team has faced.
Due to the immense pressure the Lakers have to succeed and win championships every single year, Ham was the first person to face some backlash. Despite making the Western Conference Finals last season, there had been mounting criticism about the direction the team was heading.
After starting the season strong at 14-9 heading into the In-Season Tournament, L.A. fell to 17-19. It was time for Ham and the team to get real about what needs to change to win again, so he allowed players to share feedback in a film session after their game against the Memphis Grizzlies, via Sam Amick of The Athletic:
“Hell yeah I open the floor,” Ham said while explaining the session. “Give me some feedback. I don’t have pride. My pride is not crazy. My ego — all that. We had a couple (players) speak up. I’ll just leave it there, but we had a few guys speak up. And right or wrong, I love it. I agreed with most of it, and I disagreed with some.”
For a team that was going through some tough times, it is key to have tough conversations and accept constructive criticism. Things were not going the Lakers’ way and it is honorable to see Ham allow the opportunity to speak up about what needed to change.
Every NBA team goes through these rough patches throughout the course of an 82-game season. It is good for L.A. to embrace this adversity and be able to overcome it. Championships are the only thing that matters to the Lakers organization and achieving that goal is never easy.
The interactive film session seemed to impact the team’s play as they were able to pull off a big-time win against their crosshall rivals the L.A. Clippers. Losing is never fun, especially when it is as prolonged as it was for the Lakers, but it is good to see Ham was proactive and valued his players’ input on what to change moving forward.
Darvin Ham embraces pressure that comes with coaching Lakers
Playing or coaching in the bright lights of L.A. is not for everybody and it comes with immense pressure. Despite some rumors of Ham’s job being on the line, he did not feel like he was coaching for his job but welcomes the pressure that comes with being head coach of the Lakers.
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