Former LeBron James teammate dubs Darvin Ham 'scapegoat' in Lakers' season struggles breakdown: "Not enough to win"
Darvin Ham was fired after LeBron James and the LA Lakers were eliminated by the Denver Nuggets for the second straight postseason. Since then, the Lakers have hired JJ Redick as their new head coach. Yet, opinions regarding Ham and his firing are still pouring in.
One of the people who has weighed in on Ham's firing is 2014 Sixth Man of the Year J.R. Smith. Smith doesn't seem to agree with the Lakers' decision to let Ham go and pointed to other problems that caused the team to fall short.
Here is what Smith had to say about Ham's situation:
"Darvin Ham was a scapegoat," Smith said. "What are you supposed to do with that roster? Like Cam Reddish coming off the bench, I feel like he can be better for sure."
Smith said that the Lakers bench did not play up to par for a team with championship aspirations.
"LeBron, he's still going out there putting up crazy a** numbers. And then you know, (Anthony Davis) plays when he plays but that ain't enough to win."
Aside from being a one-time Sixth Man of the Year, Smith is also a two-time NBA champion, both of which happened when he teamed up with LeBron James.
Their first title together came in 2016 with the Cleveland Cavaliers when they faced the 73-win Golden State Warriors squad. In the Finals, the Warriors took a 3-1 lead before the Cavs managed to pull off a comeback.
Smith would later be reunited with James on the Lakers roster in 2020. In that year's Finals, they faced off against the Miami Heat whom they beat in six games. That was also the final season of Smith's NBA career.
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JJ Redick praises LeBron James, walks out of press conference after loss to the Memphis Grizzlies
After a 131-114 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday, the LA Lakers have fallen to 4-4 in their first eight games.
Following the loss, coach JJ Redick praised LeBron James for dropping another strong performance. James scored 39 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out six assists.
During the postgame press conference following the game, Redick praised James for stepping up. However, he wasn't quite as pleased with the other players on the team.
Later on, Redick was asked how he could address the seeming lack of effort outside of James and a few other standouts. The first-year head coach responded by saying "I just did" before walking out of the postgame presser.
The Lakers were without two starters against the Grizzlies. Anthony Davis was out due to a heel injury while Rui Hachimura did not suit up due to an illness.
Aside from LeBron's 39 points, no other player scored over 20. The second-highest scorer on the team was Austin Reaves, who dropped 19 points while going 2-for-9 from the 3-point line. Cam Reddish and D'Angelo Russell also scored in double figures with 15 and 12, respectively.