There has been a simmering frustration around the Lakers’ ranks all season long. They see themselves as contenders, the team that made it to the Western Conference Finals last season and won the In-Season Tournament. The reality is that they had to come out of the play-in for the second year in a row to make the playoffs.
Two hard-fought losses to Denver – the second in a game the Lakers led by 20 and lost after Jamal Murray’s dramatic last-second fadeaway – have put that frustration on the back burner. You could hear it in Anthony Davis’ postgame comments after the Lakers fell 0-2 to the defending champions (and you could see it in his body language.
“We have stretches where we don’t know what we’re doing on either end of the floor,” Davis said on stage.
He added that it wasn’t about the coaching staff, but who else did he throw under the bus? That seems like blaming the coach.
Ham responded that he agreed to disagree with Davis via Jovan Buha at The Athletic.
“I mean, I just think sometimes the plays don’t turn out the way you think they should (and) the frustration sets in a little bit,” Ham told reporters. “But I don’t think this was (over) unorganized. I think I have incredible knowledge and focus across all my staff. We pride ourselves – whether it’s practice, shootarounds, film sessions, games, everything – we pride ourselves on being very efficient and organized.
“So I just call that being frustrated. It’s an emotional game, with the way it ended and all that. But I agree to disagree.”
The frustration is real.
There have been rumblings of frustration in the dressing room all season, with some players reportedly disillusioned with Ham’s strategies and “just play harder” responses. Lakers fans have been anything but subtle about their frustrations with Ham’s coaching and rotations all season (playing Spencer Dinwiddie in Game 2, for example). To be fair, injuries and the way the squad was built tied Ham’s hands on points.
Denver coach Michael Malone won the Game 2 coaching contest when he put Aaron Gordon on Davis and moved Nikola Jokic to Rui Hachimura in the third quarter – the Lakers didn’t have a great counter to do that. LeBron kept calling for Hachimura to set screens (or whoever was guarding Jokic), but that threw the Lakers off their rhythm. Denver took advantage.
When the Nuggets enter the Crypto.com Arena and play Game 3 on Thursday night, expect that low-level frustration to grow into a boiling boil.
Does this mean Ham could be this season’s fall guy if Denver bounces the Lakers in the first round, especially if it’s a sweep or a five-game series? Some reports say no, Ham will probably come back. The reality is likely more complex and will depend in part on what LeBron and Davis want: If the Stars want their coach back, so will he. It sounds like Davis might not be too fond of the idea of running it back, but whether that will be enough to effect a coaching change is another question (Jeanie Buss wants to pay two coaches, Ham is under contract for reportedly $8 million) next season?).
Regardless, the frustration surrounding the Lakers is there. Losing does that to a team.
