Lakers News: LeBron James Frustrated With Darvin Ham Earlier This Year

Matt Levine | Apr 11, 2024

Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham has taken all sorts of criticism throughout this season, both fair and unfair. He has seemingly regressed as a coach over the year and there are many who believe he will be fired once the season ends barring another deep playoff run.

In his first season with the team, Ham led the seventh-seeded Lakers to the Western Conference Finals but has since made many questionable decisions. This has notably been with the rotations, causing much frustration among the players. According to Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report, All-Star forward LeBron James was frustrated with Ham earlier in the season.

“There was some buzz in NBA circles that James wasn’t happy with head coach Darvin Ham when the team struggled earlier in the season,” Pincus wrote. “If the Lakers don’t win a playoff series this year, will James try to make the team pick between him and the coach?”

If James continues to be frustrated by the way Ham coaches the team, Los Angeles will likely have to make a change. James is the key to the franchise right now, even in year 21. While he can opt out of his current contract at the end of the year, there are reports that he would prefer to remain with the Lakers to finish out his career.

If the Lakers get bounced early in the postseason, a change feels likely to be made. This is a "what have you done for me lately" type of league and Ham's time with the Lakers is almost up. Even at age 39, James has a lot of power within the organization and the team will choose him over Ham each time.

The hope is that the Lakers do go on another deep playoff run, but their chances seem slim. Los Angeles has been fairly inconsistent all year long, but still has confidence in themselves to make a needed run toward another title.