Several weeks ago, reports emerged about Darvin Ham losing the LA Lakers' locker room, and a video including LeBron James and Austin Reaves has fueled those rumors. The incident occurred during Tuesday's 134-120 home loss for the Lakers against the Golden State Warriors.
As the Warriors continued torching LA in the fourth quarter with their hot shooting night, Ham tried drawing up a play during a timeout, but he was seemingly struggling to get his ideas on the board.
In the meantime, James and Reaves, sitting across Ham, walked out on the sophomore coach as the timeout buzzer hit before he could draw up a play.
As Ham tried conveying a message to the two, LeBron James and Austin Reaves had already walked onto the court without listening to what their coach had to say.
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The video went viral on "X," formerly Twitter, after a Lakers fan page, "Lakers Empire," shared it on the platform.
The Lakers seemed clueless after failing to make adjustments to their defense. Their offense couldn't get going, either. The Warriors made 26 3-pointers on an NBA record 63.4% efficiency. Meanwhile, the Lakers went 12 of 35 on 34.3% efficiency from deep.
Darvin Ham made questionable choices during the contest, including leaving a few non-shooters open throughout the night despite them converting almost all of their shots. The Lakers have played that way for most of the season, and it has backfired more often than not.
On Wednesday, the Lakers left the Warriors' average and below-average shooters like Brandin Podziemski, Draymond Green and Gary Payton II wide open, who made at least two triples each. Podziemski went 3 for 3, Green hit 5 of 5 shots in the first half, while Payton was 2-for-3.
LeBron James wages lone battle as poor coaching and defense doom Lakers
LeBron James was one of the lone bright spots for the Anthony Davis-less LA Lakers in their massive loss to the Golden State Warriors. James had a game-high 33 points, seven rebounds and 11 assists on 14 of 22 shooting. He kept the Lakers in the game whenever he was on the floor, inspiring several runs that trimmed the Warriors' lead to single digits.
However, the Lakers' defense leaked 3s to the entire Warriors team. Davis' absence saw LA's defense collapse several times, leaving the Dubs' perimeter shooters open.
Darvin Ham could have done a better job implementing some of the schemes and adjusting his game plan, but he stuck with it for 48 minutes, eventually resulting in LA's loss.
LeBron James and Co. are now inching closer to finishing the season as the 10th seed. They don't hold tie-breakers over the 10th-placed Warriors (1-3) or the Sacramento Kings (0-4). Both teams have a better shot at a sixth seed than LA, with easier schedules.
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