Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham clapped back at Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka after his exchange with Lakers star LeBron James in the team’s 107-97 victory on Saturday night.
"There ain't no crying b*tches over here, Saginaw said so."
Lakers head coach Darvin Ham on the LeBron James-Ime Udoka incident on Saturday night 👀
(via @ramonashelburne) pic.twitter.com/xF10UGIGIJ
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) December 4, 2023
During the exchange, Udoka appeared to use the word “b—-” several times towards James. The Lakers tar brushed off the exchange after the game, joking that he and Udoka were talking about Thanksgiving, but the audio tells more of the story of the incident.
It appears that James warned Udoka not to use the word “b—-” so loosely.
“We all grown men,” James seemingly said. “That b—- word ain’t cool. Don’t use it so loosely. Don’t use that word so loosely. Nah, don’t use it so loosely, though. Don’t use it so loosely.”
The exchange between James and Udoka resulted in both parties receiving a technical foul.
It was Udoka’s second technical foul of the game, so he was thrown out of the contest.
Rockets wing and star defender Dillon Brooks believes that the officials are to blame for the situation escalating. Brooks believes that the officials “lost control of the game” on Saturday.
There clearly appears to be a bit of a rivalry brewing between the Lakers and the Rockets, as the two teams have already faced off three teams in the first few months of the 2023-24 regular season.
The Lakes have won two of those matchups – both at home – to take a 2-1 regular season series lead. Houston will have a shot to even the series in its home building when these two teams play for the fourth and final time in the regular season on Jan. 29.
It’s great to see Ham defending James and his players, especially since Udoka stepped out of line (hence the technical foul) with his comments on Saturday.
James and the Lakers ended up getting the last laugh on Saturday night with the win, and the four-time champion had a solid game on top of that. The 38-year-old finished with 16 points, four rebounds and seven assists for Los Angeles.
Hopefully, the bad blood between the Lakers and Rockets will blow over by the time the two teams face off in late January, but for now, it seems like everyone is making their voice heard about the James-Udoka exchange.
The Lakers and Ham will turn their focus to the NBA’s In-Season Tournament on Tuesday when they take on the Phoenix Suns for the third time this season. That game is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m. PST from Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
