The Los Angeles Lakers’ season officially ended after Jamal Murray sunk another game-winner to give the Denver Nuggets a 4-1 series win.
It was a brutal way for the Lakers to exit the postseason considering how hard they fought in Game 5, but now the organization must turn its attention to the offseason where they’ll need to make several key decisions if they want to seriously contend in the Western Conference.
The question on everyone’s mind is the future of head coach Darvin Ham, who has been on the hot seat for the entire year after seeing the maddening inconsistencies of the team. Ham bought himself time after leading Los Angeles to the Western Conference Finals last year, but a first-round exit this year won’t sit well with the higher ups.
After losing to the Nuggets for the second consecutive year, it appears that Ham’s time on the Lakers sidelines could be coming to an end via Shams Charania, Jovan Buha and Sam Amick of The Athletic:
“The Lakers’ unflattering finish leaves Ham’s future as head coach in serious peril, multiple league and team sources tell The Athletic, with some stakeholders indicating it’s highly unlikely he’ll return. The plan is to reassess everything that went wrong in the coming days before making a final decision. In 2022, Ham signed a four-year deal in the range of $5 million per season, so the team would be assuming the remainder of his deal if he is fired.”
There are several reasons to point to when it comes to Ham’s shortcomings as a head coach, namely his questionable rotation choices and lack of in-game management. There were several glaring instances throughout the regular season where losses could almost be directly attributed to Ham’s coaching abilities.
However, the playoff series against Denver shed even more light on Ham’s inability to live up to the moment as he far too often allowed the game to go on before cutting off any momentum. While the roster may not have been perfect, there were certainly better ways to maximize the players who were available.
While a formal decision could take some time, all signs point to Ham being on his way out.
Anthony Davis says Lakers didn’t want to get swept by Nuggets again
Anthony Davis was arguably the best player in the series and might have saved their season had he not gotten hurt in Game 5. After the team’s strong Game 4 performance, he admitted that he and the rest of the team didn’t want to get swept for the second consecutive year.
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