A divide is reportedly growing between the Lakers locker room and head coach Darvin Ham as the team hits a new low in its slump.
The Lakers have fallen a long way since winning the NBA‘s inaugural In-Season Tournament on December 9, losing nine of their last 12 games to sit 10th in the Western Conference.
Following a 110-96 loss to the Miami Heat, who was without star Jimmy Butler, on Wednesday night, reports emerged of concerns within the organization over the relationship between Ham and his players.
A disconnect between the head coach and LeBron James and co. has stemmed from Ham’s extreme rotation and fluctuating lineups, according to a report from The Athletic.
In an effort to snap losing streak on Wednesday, Ham opted for his 10th starting lineup of the season and third in three games but instead LA slipped to its third loss in a row against the Heat.
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There is a divide between Lakers stars (right, LeBron James) and coach Darvin Ham (left)
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Following defeat to the Heat Wednesday, the Lakers have lost nine of their last 12 games
The defeat is said to have escalated the tension festering in the Lakers locker room after concerns over the trend in lineup changes had already begun to grow.
Ham’s decision to bench D’Angelo Russell and start James, Prince, Reddish, Jarred Vanderbilt and Davis in a lineup without a second guard ballhandler against the Oklahoma City Thunder on December 23 reportedly raised eyebrows within the organization.
Meanwhile, Russell, Rui Hachimura and Austin Reaves, the Lakers’ third-, fourth- and fifth-highest-paid players, have been coming off the bench.
After Wednesday’s loss, the locker room was opened up before Ham spoke to the media due to a postgame team meeting and as Anthony Davis spoke to reporters, the rest of the players, including James, reportedly cleared out.
‘It’s a little bit of everything right now,’ Davis said, via The Athletic. ‘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 trend, it’s not going to be good for us. So it’s kind of obvious that we have to figure it out sooner than later.
‘Guys being out is not an excuse. There are no excuses for us. Like coach said (pregame), we have enough in this locker room to win but we just have to go out and compete.’
Reaves echoed Davis’s thoughts, insisting that the fluctuating lineups weren’t an excuse before admitting that the atmosphere in the locker room was ‘s****y’.
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While Anthony Davis spoke to reporters postgame, other players reportedly cleared out
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Guard Austin Reaves admitted that the atmosphere in the locker room was ‘s****y’
‘Regardless of what the lineup is, what change is, whatever happens, we got to be better as a team and go win games,’ Reaves said. ‘We’re more than talented enough to win games. We have enough depth. We have enough skill. We got to figure it out.’
‘We’re losing,’ he added. ‘Anytime you lose, the vibe should be off, you know? If I went in there and the vibe wasn’t off after the rough stretch that we’ve had, then I’d be concerned.
‘When I say the vibe is off, it’s not like we don’t like each other,’ Reaves said. ‘It’s we’re losing. We should be pissed off. We shouldn’t be happy after games with how we’re playing. But I don’t want to get that twisted on us not liking each other. Everybody in the locker room gets along.’
Meanwhile, Ham claimed that the team was not going to find any consistency until it got full healthy.
‘We’ve got to get healthy,’ Ham said. ‘… And once you get healthy, guys got to get back into rhythm and we’ve got to find a cohesive unit, a total cohesive rotation that we can go with. When you’re dealing with different guys being in and out of the lineup that frequently, it’s damn-near impossible to find a rhythm. That’s just being real. That’s no slight on anybody.’
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