Lakers News: LeBron James Shares He Vetoed Darvin Ham's Play Call Late in Game

Eva Geitheim | Mar 29, 2024

Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports

On his new podcast, "Mind the Game" with co-host J.J. Reddick, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James has been talking about the behind-the-scenes aspects of the NBA and game action. In the second episode of his podcast, James revealed that he helped lead the Lakers to a comeback win over the Los Angeles Clippers back on Feb 28 by going against head coach Darvin Ham's decision on defense.

James decided to guard Clippers star Kawhi Leonard overtaking Ham's defensive strategy since he knew he had the best chance at guarding one of the Clippers' best players. James' plan worked. After trailing 96-77 entering the fourth quarter, the Lakers outscored the Clippers 39-16 in the fourth quarter to get the 116-112 win. James broke down his thought process for that decision on the podcast

“We had switching built in versus Kawhi and versus James [Harden] and whatever the case may be and I vetoed it in the second half,” LeBron said on 'Mind the Game.' “I know [Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue] T-Lue more than any other player that’s ever been with T-Lue and I know he plays target ball too. It got to a point where I knew in order for us to get back into the game, switching anybody else onto Kawhi is not favorable for us.”

While likely not just any player could switch up the head coach's game plan, James is one of the greatest of all time. The 21-year veteran and 20-time NBA All-Star knows the game well, so it's not surprising to see he has a different opinion than his coach, which proved to be successful.

James and the Lakers next face the Indiana Pacers on Friday.