The Los Angeles Lakers reportedly plan to be patient with head coach Darvin Ham and allow him to grow into his role.
“And after spending three days in town, which included three consecutive games at the building formerly known as Staples Center, I firmly believe the second-year coach isn’t going anywhere anytime soon,” Sam Amick wrote.
“The results matter, of course, so it certainly helps that his embattled squad beat the intracity-rival [Los Angeles] Clippers and the [Toronto] Raptors after losing 13 of the previous 15 games. But beyond that, two high-ranking team sources say there is a plan to remain patient with Ham as he continues to grow in his first head coaching job.”
Ham is in his second season as the head coach of the storied Lakers franchise. Prior to becoming the head coach of the Lakers, he spent time working as an assistant coach with the Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks.
The Lakers were just recently on a four-game losing streak, with their fourth consecutive loss coming against the Memphis Grizzlies by a final score of 127-113. But ever since Los Angeles fell to the Grizzlies last week, the team has yet to lose another game.
Los Angeles is riding a two-game winning streak at the moment, with its victories coming against the Clippers on Jan. 7 and Raptors on Tuesday.
Lakers star big man Anthony Davis had one of his better scoring performances of the 2023-24 regular season to this point in the team’s one-point road victory over the Raptors. He scored a whopping 41 points while shooting 13-of-17 from the floor and 2-of-2 from 3-point range to go along with 11 rebounds, six assists and one block in 40 minutes of playing time.
LeBron James finished second on the team in scoring with 22 points across 35 minutes of action. The 39-year-old also chipped in 12 assists, five rebounds, one steal and one block.
With the win, the Lakers improved to 19-19 on the season. The team sits as the No. 10 seed in the Western Conference right now and is just a half game behind the Houston Rockets for the No. 8 seed in the conference.
Ham and the Lakers will aim to pick up their third win in a row and get above the .500 mark when they take on the Phoenix Suns at home on Thursday night.
The Suns are just barely ahead of the Lakers in the Western Conference standings — the team is the conference’s No. 9 seed at 19-18 — but are riding a two-game losing streak at the moment. Before picking up a loss against the Clippers on Jan. 8, the Suns lost to the Grizzlies on Jan. 7.
