Entering their game against the Los Angeles Clippers, your Los Angeles Lakers were searching for any sign of hope. The team had lost four in a row and was on the brink of completely falling apart.
Lakers head coach Darvin Ham had come under fire for his performance, and some comments made after a recent loss.
This win against the Clippers somewhat came out of nowhere and may have helped save Ham’s job for now.
Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue spoke about Ham, and he believes that the criticism toward the second-year coach has been unfair, per Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times.
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“It’s a long season,” Lue said. “A lot of different things go on throughout the season, a lot of changing parts,” Lue said. “And we said the same thing last year when they were 2-10 and they went to the conference finals and so are you giving the coach all the credit for that? I don’t think so. And I think D-Ham did a hell of a job last year by doing that. The same thing this year. They got a lot of injuries, a lot of different rotations, a lot of starting lineups and it’s hard.”
Lue backing Ham is an unlikely source, but the coaching brotherhood is strong. He knows how hard it is to coach a team in this league, let alone one with LeBron James on the roster.
Ham got the Lakers to the Western Conference Finals last season, but this year has been a little up and down. Injuries have taken their toll, but Ham does deserve some of the blame as well.
He has mixed around rotations quite often, leading to a lot of frustration in the locker room. This win against the Clippers is a signal of hope, and one that the team believes that they can build off going forward for the rest of the season.
