"He got scr*wed": Stephen A. Smith slams Lakers for letting Darvin Ham go, points to 'problematic' rosters
The LA Lakers fired head coach Darvin Ham right after the team got bounced in the first round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs. Although there was wide anticipation that Ham would lose his job after his team’s early exit, NBA analyst Stephen A. Smith thinks the Lakers made a mistake.
The ESPN analyst appeared on First Take and shared his opinion on Ham's firing. When asked if the Lakers should have fired Darvin Ham, Smith vehemently said that the decision was wrong.
"[Darvin Ham] got scr*wed. It was the wrong decision."
In Ham’s defense, Smith added that rather than looking at Ham, the Lakers should look at their team’s construction. According to Smith, the Lakers didn’t have good players who could shoot and defend on the floor. He said the team was never built to be successful, especially after the Russell Westbrook trade, which sent away key players.
"My problem is look at the roster itself. It is problematic," Smith added.
To credit Ham, Smith also added that despite having a weak team, the Lakers have been successful with Ham as coach. Despite their late-season struggles last season, he took the Lakers to the conference finals. According to Smith, getting defeated by a championship team should not get Darvin Ham fired.
LeBron James was unhappy with Darvin Ham limiting his minutes in regular season
There is not just one reason that might have amounted to Darvin Ham getting fired as Lakers head coach. Given how big of a standard the Lakers have set for themselves, anything less than the NBA Finals or championship falls short of expectations.
However, it was not just the high expectations that ended Ham’s job. A lot of players, starting with LeBron James and Anthony Davis, were allegedly unhappy with his coaching style. During the regular season, a few players complained that they didn’t know their role in the team.
After the Game 2 loss against the Denver Nuggets, Davis commented on their team situation.
"We have stretches where we don't know what we're doing on both ends of the floor."
Now, Ramona Shelburne from ESPN reported that superstar LeBron James wasn’t happy with Ham restricting his minutes on the floor at the beginning of the season.
“James bristled at the idea of restricting his minutes at the start of the season, sources said, an idea that was noticeably scrapped after just a few games.”
Even in Game 4, James seemed frustrated with his coaching staff for not challenging a play.