The Los Angeles Lakers’ 2023-24 NBA season came to an end when they lost Game 5 of their series against the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets earlier this week. While a lot of fans and experts alike seem to agree that Lakers head coach Darvin Ham deserves the boot following the disappointing end to the season, Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green is not among that group.
Green took some time during a recent episode of his podcast to discuss the end of the season for the Lakers and address many of the interesting offseason storylines related to the team. Through his words, it is clear that he believes Ham was hampered by a roster that simply wasn’t good enough to compete for a title this season.
View this post on Instagram
“What’s going to happen with Darvin Ham?” Green began. “I think it would be wrong to fire him. He’ll catch a lot of flack for the season that they had. I think that’s garbage. Their roster didn’t get better than last year, and they were a play-in team.”
Some surely agree Green’s argument has merit. Throughout the season, few considered the Lakers to be serious title contenders. To primarily blame Ham for the team’s inability to accomplish that ultimate goal could be considered unfair.
However, that ignores an important aspect of the Lakers’ 4-1 loss to the Nuggets in their first-round playoff series.
The Lakers led in each of their four losses to the Nuggets. Several of those leads were by double digits. Those kind of collapses in big games are often pegged to poor coaching.
While the players on the court must shoulder some of that blame, Ham was often criticized for his coaching decisions. Whether it came to lineups on the floor, timeouts that could have been taken or calls that could have been challenged, a lot of people questioned Ham’s leadership and decision-making.
Moreover, Anthony Davis made news when he seemingly questioned the team’s coaching staff after the Lakers collapse in Game 2 of the series. Ham responding to Davis while talking to members of the media likely didn’t help smooth things over.
So, while Green may not think it would be fair for the Lakers to fire Ham, it is likely that players and personnel within the organization feel differently. Only time will tell if he’ll be back for another season.
As things currently stands, it looks like Ham’s days in L.A. are numbered.
