Darvin Ham Accused of Stealing From Lakers After LeBron James’ Veto Power Hints at Termination of Million Dollar Contract

The Los Angeles Lakers have struggled this season. Despite having stars like LeBron James and D’Angelo Russell they have been inconsistent, occupying the 8th seed with 5 games left for the regular season end. Recently, on a recent podcast episode of ‘Jenkins and Jones’ analysts David Jenkins and Quentin Jones discussed the Lakers’ coaching situation of the team. And their focus in part remained on Lakers Head Coach Darvin Ham.

Discussing the Lakers, the crew of four touched upon the role of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, however, admitted they remained oblivious to the rest of the Lakers’ rotation. One of them added that it wasn’t just tricky for them, it was “tricky as hell for Darvin Ham.” They further claimed, “That m*****f***** still hasn’t figured out the rotation.” 

The conversation further revolved around the scrutiny Ham has been under for his coaching techniques, ultimately leading their guest, Hanif Abdurraqib to hint that the coach hasn’t been worth his money. “everybody be like man, Darvin Ham don’t know what he’s doing… I was like, I mean, how bad can it be… and I was like what! It’s baffling to me that he is employed… I am sure Ham is stealing checks at time point… man is stealing money.” 

The conversation arrived after LeBron James vetoed Darvin twice in a week. In late March, playing against the Clippers, James dismissed the HC’s defensive strategy to defend Kawhi Leonard. “We had switching built in versus Kawhi and versus James [Harden] and whatever the case may be, and I vetoed it in the second half,” James admitted on his podcast.  A few days later, in the matchup against the Wizards, LeBron and AD once again went against Ham to let themselves in on the court as the team witnessed a dip.

Darvin Ham is currently in a four-year multi-million-dollar deal with the Lakers, lasting until 2026. And if LeBron James’ persistent lead, coupled with the reactions from the spectators continues, the HC might soon fetch an unlikely end or maybe not.

Darvin Ham’s stand with the Lakers

The conversation on the podcast later centered on an alleged ‘player mutiny’ that Jenkins believes influenced Ham’s starting lineup decisions. Jenkins said that “James unhappy with the initial starting lineup, pushed for changes that favored guards D’Angelo Russell and Malik Beasley over forwards like Torian Prince.” Following the lineup adjustments, the Lakers reportedly went on a winning streak, which Jenkins attributes to playing their “best basketball players.” This narrative gave us the idea of Ham’s repeated placement under scrutiny and speculations over contract termination.

However, reports have carried that the Lakers ‘remain committed’ to Darvin Ham against the noise outside. “Everything is going to be alright. We’ve got a good team. We just got more work to do,” Ham asserted as news of his disconnection with the team surfaced on the internet.

Ham currently holds 86-72 with the Lakers, 9-8 in postseason games and 8-8 in the NBA Playoffs. With mixed scenarios floating around, it remains to see how Ham navigates through the complexities and possibly establishes a firm ground against the remarks.

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