Could a coaching change be on the horizon in Los Angeles?
The Athletic's Shams Charania and Jovan Buha reported, citing six sources with direct knowledge of the situation, on Thursday that there's a "deepening disconnect" between Lakers players and head coach Darvin Ham.
The disconnect stems from "extreme rotation and starting lineup adjustments recently from Ham, leading to a fluctuating rhythm for several players across the roster," according to the report.
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The report cited one specific lineup change, when Ham started LeBron James, Taurean Prince, Cam Reddish, Jarred Vanderbilt and Anthony Davis against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Dec. 23, that was viewed as "a head-scratcher by multiple parties internally." Los Angeles, however, did win that game behind a 40-point performance from James.
While the Lakers had an unblemished In-Season Tournament record en route to capturing the inaugural NBA Cup, it's been a disappointing campaign otherwise. Los Angeles is just 11-18 in non-IST games and 17-18 overall, sitting 10th in the Western Conference standings. And those struggles have come despite James and Davis only missing a combined five games.
The Lakers have dropped nine of 12 games since their IST title triumph, most recently falling to the Jimmy Butler-less Miami Heat at home on Wednesday for a third straight loss. The game saw Los Angeles use its 10th different starting lineup this season.
After the 110-96 loss to Miami, James left Crypto.com Arena without speaking to the media while Austin Reaves described the team's mood as "s*****."
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"We're losing. Anytime you lose, the vibe should be off, you know? If I went in [the locker room] and the vibe wasn't off after the rough stretch that we've had, then I'd be concerned. That's really it," Reaves told reporters, via ESPN. "You know, I don't expect for us to be happy with how we've played. So, until we figure that out, you know, the vibe should be off. We got to win games."
Ham is in his second year as Lakers head coach. Last season, Los Angeles rebounded from a 2-10 start to finish 43-39 and make the conference finals.
But the Lakers currently look far from a threat to reach the conference finals again.
"It's a little bit of everything right now," Ham said after Wednesday's loss, via ESPN. "We're not executing. That team played harder than us tonight, executed better than us tonight, more physical than us tonight. We got outworked tonight, so it's a bit of everything right now.
"If we keep on this train, it's not going to be good for us."