The Los Angeles Lakers have hit a rough patch that has seen them lose their last four games in a row. While they do have some roster concerns, many fans on social media have been pointing the finger at head coach Darvin Ham.
Plenty of those fans have been calling for Ham to be fired, and if they get their wish, one oddsmaker has Phil Handy replacing Ham.
Odds for the next head coach of the Lakers according to @BovadaOfficial
Phil Handy: +350
Juwan Howard: +600
Jared Dudley: +750
Kenny Atkinson: +750
Sam Cassell: +750
Jamahl Mosley: +800
Quin Snyder: +800
JB Bickerstaff: +1000
Steve Clifford: +1000
Mike Brown: +1600
Billy… pic.twitter.com/kRpXlm6IjJ— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) December 22, 2023
Handy has been an assistant coach with the Lakers since the 2019-20 season, back when Frank Vogel was their head coach.
Handy also knows LeBron James very well, as he was an assistant with the Cleveland Cavaliers during James’ second stint there before coming to Southern California.
Ham was hired by the Lakers following the end of the disastrous 2021-22 season when they fired Vogel. Ham had never been a head coach before, and they had the opportunity to hire someone else with plenty of experience.
Instead, they opted for a fresh voice in Ham, who had been an assistant for the Milwaukee Bucks and won an NBA championship there during the 2020-21 campaign.
When the Lakers made an impressive run last season following the Russell Westbrook trade and reached the Western Conference Finals, Ham started to receive praise. There was a feeling that perhaps he had grown as a head coach, and the outlook coming into this season looked rosy for L.A.
The team started 3-5 this year, but then he moved Austin Reaves to the bench and promoted former lottery pick Cam Reddish to the starting lineup. The team started to gather momentum right away, and it helped them capture the NBA Cup by winning the In-Season Tournament with plenty of ease.
While the Lakers have had injury woes over the last two months, they’re almost back to full strength right now. Their schedule will get a lot easier once January arrives, and if they still fail to string together wins at that point, fans will yell even louder for Ham to be shown the door.
