Austin Reaves Ignoring Coach Darvin Ham on National TV Goes Viral; Fans React: “Once You Lose the Locker Room..”

The Los Angeles Lakers finally seem to have regained their momentum. They had two big wins this week against two of the most elite teams in the league, OKC Thunder and Dallas Mavericks. LeBron James and Co. blew out Luka Doncic and Co. in the last game and looked in great sync. However, an awkward moment between Lakers head coach Darvin Ham and guard Austin Reaves caught everyone’s attention.

Reaves ignoring Ham on National TV left the fans worrying about the Lakers’ locker room chemistry between the head coach and his players.

Is Austin Reaves done with Darvin Ham?

Austin Reaves might be done with Lakers head coach Darvin Ham. While the Lakers were up 15 points in the third quarter, Reaves completely ignored Ham during a timeout. Ham patted Reaves on his chest, looking for a response. But the Lakers guard headed straight to his teammate Taurean Prince for a quick dap. When Reaves turned back towards Ham, he completely ignored the head coach and headed to the bench while Ham tried to dap him up again. Fans noticed the awkward moment and claimed that Ham had lost the trust of players in the Lakers locker room. One fan wrote on X, “Oh ham is outta here, once u lose the locker room it’s a wrap … the public can hate you and want u traded all day, but it’s over now.” The NBA World followed suit.

Fans sided with Austin Reaves and claimed they would do the same thing if they got benched for players with less productivity.

Fans even felt secondhand embarrassment for Darvin Ham and requested the Lakers to fire him from the head coaching job.

The reason for Austin Reaves’ frustration

Although the reason for Austin Reaves’ cold behavior towards Ham is uncertain, it is speculated that the guard might not be happy with his playing time. Reaves has played in all 42 Lakers games this season. But he has been in the starting line-up for only 17 games. Reaves’ productivity has gone down from last season because of the constant rotation change.

Read More: Why Is $56M Worth Austin Reaves Valued More Than $215M Rich Zach Lavine? NBA Insider Explains the Real Reason Behind It

He is averaging 15.1 points, 5.2 assists and 4.2 rebounds. Meanwhile, Cam Reddish and Taurean Prince have gotten more starts than Reaves despite being far less productive on the court.

Reaves has also been in constant trade rumors because he has not been able to perform the way fans expected. He had a breakout season last year and helped the Lakers reach the Western Conference Finals. But he has not been able to justify his 4-year $56 million contract extension this season.

Why do you think Austin Reaves is frustrated with Darvin Ham?

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