“Just Shocking”: Darvin Ham Was Not Fired But Dismissed As Scapegoat For Lakers’ Damaging Blunders

On Friday, the Lakers did what everyone expected them to do since the day they got eliminated in the first round, fire Darvin Ham. Despite having two more years left on his four-year contract, the Lakers showed Ham to the door, mainly because he could not get them past the Denver Nuggets for the second straight year. But was Darvin Ham the sole reason for the Lakers’ failure or was his firing just a way to hide the team’s shortcomings?

While discussing the Lakers’ decision on The Odd Couple Show, veteran analyst Rob Parker did not think Ham should have been fired so early, “It’s just shocking when you think about Darvin Ham.” Although the Lakers might be suffering from a bit of recency bias fresh off a brutal elimination in the playoffs, Parker reminded what Ham achieved in LA in just two years as head coach. Pointing out Ham’s 90-74 record in the regular season, his run to the Western Conference Finals last year, two play in tournament victories to secure a playoff berth, and the first ever in-season tournament victory, Parker said, “That’s not grounds to be fired. Those are grounds to be dismissed as a scapegoat.”

Moreover, the Lakers did not lose to just any mediocre team in the playoffs, they lost to the defending Champions, who have had a matchup advantage over LeBron James’ squad for a long time now. Yes, there were times when Ham made mistakes on the court by not making proper adjustments when Denver went on major runs. But he was doing something right that led to the Lakers leading in every game of the series at halftime. So, firing him might have been a desperate move for the Lakers.

Did Darvin Ham pay the price of coaching a LeBron James’ team?

Even Parker’s co-host Chris Broussard shared the same sentiment about Ham’s firing and said, “With Lakers, with LeBron’s teams, when you don’t win a Championship, somebody seemingly has to pay the price.” When the Lakers acquired Russell Westbrook and the experiment did not work out at all because of the bad fit, Westbrook was soon thrown under the bus and was blamed for the Lakers’ struggles. After trading him away, the Lakers did get better and made a run to the Western Conference Finals last year. But Westbrook also found a decent role in the opposite side of town with the Clippers.

Before that, the Lakers fired head coach Frank Vogel in 2022 after they failed to make the playoffs that year. However, Vogel had helped the Lakers win a Championship just two years ago in the Bubble. Moreover, LeBron and AD’s frequent injuries also caused the Lakers to struggle in 2021 and 2022. Backing the point, Rob Parker compared Vogel’s firing with Darvin Ham’s, “Just like they made Vogel the scapegoat, now Darvin Ham.”

With a team that only plays to win Championships and an ageing LeBron James who has a ‘win now mentality’, head coaches face a lot of pressure when they take the Lakers’ job. And because of the same reason, Darvin Ham might have lost his job way ahead of time. Do you agree?