Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss reportedly sent a supportive text message to the team’s head coach, Darvin Ham, in the wake of rumors surrounding his standing with the iconic franchise.
“Unlike the [Frank] Vogel situation, where Buss was known to believe the former coach was largely to blame for the failed integration of Russell Westbrook and ultimately greenlighted his April 2022 firing as a result, all signs point to the Lakers’ most important decision-maker standing by the coach who is in the second year of a four-year deal,” The Athletic’s Sam Amick wrote. “There’s a mutual respect in that relationship, one that resulted in Buss sending a lengthy text message of support to Ham in the wake of Thursday’s report in The Athletic that chronicled the rising pressure that surrounds him. Buss could certainly change her stance, of course, but the current state of affairs suggests Ham still has time to turn this around.”
Last week, a report surfaced detailing a disconnect between Ham and the Lakers locker room.
But Ham and the Lakers managed to snap their four-game losing streak with an impressive home victory over a hot Los Angeles Clippers team on Sunday. The Clippers were riding a five-game winning streak going into the matchup and owned an 8-2 record over their last 10 games. The Lakers, conversely, held a 2-8 record over the same span.
The Purple and Gold beat the Clippers by three points thanks to solid performances from the team’s two best players in Anthony Davis and LeBron James. The former finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds, one assist and three steals, while the latter ended up with 25 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and one steal.
As for the opposition, Ivica Zubac and Paul George led the Clippers in scoring, as they each finished with 22 points for the game. Zubac also chipped in 19 rebounds for the Clippers, with 10 of them coming on the offensive glass.
The Lakers improved their record to 18-19 on the season and 12-6 at home with the win. The team now sits as the No. 10 seed in the Western Conference and is 1.5 games behind the Houston Rockets for the conference’s eighth-best record.
Next up on Ham and the Lakers’ regular-season schedule is a home matchup against the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday. Toronto owns just a 4-6 record over its past 10 games but is fresh off a 15-point victory over the Golden State Warriors on Sunday thanks to a 37-point performance from RJ Barrett.
After playing the Raptors, Los Angeles will then play the Phoenix Suns on Thursday in another home game for the team. The Suns are right above the Lakers in the Western Conference standings, as the team owns the No. 9 seed.
