The Los Angeles Lakers have fired head coach Darvin Ham after two seasons with the team, according to new reporting from ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
Lakers GM Rob Pelinka informed Ham of decision in phone call short time ago, sources said. After run to Western finals a year ago and winning 47 games this season, it’ll likely be Ham’s successor who’ll get chance to benefit from organization using major draft capital to upgrade…
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 3, 2024
The Lakers season ended after a Game 5 loss of their first round series against the Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets eliminated the Lakers in back-to-back postseasons and the Lakers have just one win in the nine games despite having a lead at halftime in seven of those games, including every game of their series this year.
Rumors of Ham's eventual demise in Hollywood had been brewing for a while. In January, less than a month after the Lakers celebrated winning the inaugural NBA Cup, The Athletic reported that there was tension among the players and their head coach.
The report from Shams Charania and Jovan Buha indicated that sources with direct knowledge of the situation felt Ham was losing the locker room.
"Those sources have described the disjointedness between the coach and team has stemmed from the extreme rotation and starting lineup adjustments recently from Ham, leading to a fluctuating rhythm for several players across the roster," the report said.
The Lakers eventually turned their season around in February for the second straight season and managed to nab the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference after a win in the NBA Play-In Tournament. However, instead of drawing an inexperienced Memphis Grizzlies team in Round 1, the Lakers were forced to face their foes in the opening round and suffered four crushing comeback losses.
