Stephen A. Smith, Michael Wilbon, Bob Myers and Malika Andrews discuss the breaking news the the Los Angeles Lakers have parted ways with head coach Darvin Ham.
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from the NBA the Lakers today firing coach darham after LA’s first round playoff loss to the Nuggets ESPN also confirming that the Lakers entire coaching staff was let go ham lasted only two seasons the Lakers had to go through the play in to get to the playoffs but were knocked out by Denver for the second straight season Darin ham went 9 and 12 in the playoffs in his two seasons with the Lakers that is tied for the second worst win percentage by a Lakers head coach in his first two playoff appearances behind Jerry West and these are the only three coaches with a record below 500 for reaction Malika Andrews in the NBA Countdown crew Malika Jay thank you so very much you know these gentlemen it’s Stephen A Smith it is Bob Myers it is Michael wilbon Stephen A I want to start with you here just your reaction we haven’t gotten a chance to hear it yet to the firing of Darin ham this morning not happy about it 90 and 74 wrecked two seasons in the n in the NBA as a head coach one Weston Conference Finals trip the other first round exit but both at the hands of probably the best team in basketball and when we looked at this team we said hey if they you know if it was not for Denver they could beat anybody else that’s what everybody was you know you know basically saying about them and so to see him without a job right now it it it it leaves me a bit salty I’m not happy about it I don’t like it but I am not surprised because I knew the second that Anthony Davis uttered the words that he uttered following game two where he was talking about them looking confused used and out of sync I’m paraphrasing but it was along those lines I knew the moment Anthony Davis said that publicly in the press conference that is not who he what he does the second I saw that I said Darin ham this is it for him so great players can’t be accountable anymore they you just get to point the finger at somebody else yeah that you can make 50 and $60 million and not be accountable at all you really Darin Ham’s a problem eight of those 12 losses were to the Champs all right so they played pretty well they pushed they did as well as they could do under the circumstances can’t people say that we’re we’re at fault we are no let’s blame Darin ham known Darin ham for a long time as a player and assistant coach in all these years Derham did a good enough job last year to get praised when they got to the Conference Finals even though they were playing team so this Stephen A Amen to everything you said I’m beyond salty I’m angry that Darin ham has taking the fall for these guys not being good enough I am Bob you have a unique perspective on this for many reasons but one that I think back to is that you made the decision after a head coach made the postseason a couple of years back to let him go and bring in Steve cerr and obviously that that proved to be a good decision it led to four championships for the Golden State Warriors but what’s that balance that assessment that Michael wilbon is talking about where yeah clearly there’s some roster issues as well yeah that I think was unique situation Malika with Mark Jackson who did do a very good job for us and is a very good coach and I wish he would have another chance to coach because he deserves it um if Rob palinka or the Lakers organization hires a coach that does what Steve ker does did then yeah but but you got to do that and that’s hard to do and when we we let go of Mark I didn’t know if that was going to be the answer it’s never good for an organization it’s not a happy day to fire your coach it’s not as if this solves all your issues um I like Darin ham I did a couple Lakers games I don’t know him as well as you do it’s hard to find decent people that work in the NBA I can vouch for that it is very hard just High character good people he is one of them I know that and you might say I don’t care he didn’t win Character Matters in anything and it matters in professional sports so I watched that game five that was one of the best playoff games I’ve ever seen in the first in any in any round that was not a Lakers team that stopped believing in their coach that was not a broken locker room that team competed that Laker team brought it every night so now what’s going to happen is the unfortunate thing is when you’re the head coach of the Lakers you know if you don’t win this is what happens right or wrong and so the next coach coming in is going to look at this and go if I go to the Western Conference finals and then I lose then I’m gone it does have me wondering about one thing is it possible that he’s gone because if he weren’t somebody else would be worried we have to ask ourselves those questions sometimes somebody that would be be worse if the answer is a somebody sometimes somebody is let go to protect yourself now I don’t know whether that’s the situation with Rob pinka but this is not a good look as far as I’m concerned for him to be gone [Music]
49 Comments
stephen a and wilburn are proving they dont watch games
Everyone was saying that Rob Pelinka won the offseason…… and now yall tryna flip the script. Darvin Ham didn’t know how to coach a team and everyone saw it.
They are really defending Darvin freaking Ham who demonstrated time and time again that he's a terrible coach. Yeah Lakers roster isn't good enough to win the West but with Darvin Ham it's like trying to win with 1 hand tied behind your back.
What is the point of having roughly 136 million invested in professional basketball players if it comes down to a single coach to make it all work. The players should be out of a job.
I really wanted for Ham to be successful, but the truth is he didn't make the adjustments and rotations that a good coach should make.
What are these guys talking about? They won't say it, because they are bought and sold, zero integrity from this troupe. LeBron James fired Ham. LeBron James will never admit it's his fault. Self proclaimed GOAT gets his way, no matter what.
Good move lakers for firing Ham
Just make Lebron head coach
These clowns defending Ham is crazy, lines up are awful, wouldn’t take timeouts when he clearly should have & videos of his coaching telling his team “salute and play hard ” lmao
Who cares what SAS thinks 😡
What these “analysts” and journalists won’t tell you is that when the Lakers ran and organized offense they were almost unbeatable. The problem is that they did it at 50% or less in a lot of games and for when it counted in the playoffs. That is absolutely on the coaching staff.
You need to watch games, shame
Darvin ham rotations were terrible he kept taking Dlo out in clutch defensive possession but yet would leave Austin reaves who also sucks on defense in the game
Darvin ham had to go I’m sorry
While I don’t think the lakers fate was ever decided by ham…when u underachieve (as they BELIEVE they did) someone has to go…and Ham made the most mistakes line ups, missed time outs etc…
Coaches get fired when teams aren’t good enough, or players don’t show up. So according to the pattern in place…it’s on him.
Das B's the man a gud coach! Get rid of LeBron fr fr
I’m all for holding players accountable but Darvin Ham was a terrible coach for the lakers he should’ve started off on a different team
coach ham is not the problem you know who it is
I would sign a really big deal for 2 years because that’s the average you get with a LeBron team, just give lollipops to James and Davis for 2 years then prepare to get fired…lol
Laker Nation is celebrating that he’s gone 💯😂 y’all can talk all you want, dude is a horrible coach
from 2:56 it's all too cringe.
Mark Jackson built that warriors team!
No one talks about gm 2 and Lebron letting Gordon drop 29 in the paint on him
2:38 what exactly did Mark Jackson do for ESPN to blackball even saying his name?
Enough was not there for anyone to be fired.
If you even paid a little attention to the lakers, you’d know this ain’t nothing new. The last coach to keep their job for more then 3 season was phill Jackson. Since 2012, every coach has been fired after 2-3 seasons
As LA native we don’t care about your saltiness
I'm pissed! The man lost to ONE TEAM and competed every game! He mase it to the conference finals last year! STOP BLAMING THE COACH AND BLAME THE PLAYERS
These guys are stupid at
Just let Rich Paul&Clutch sports coach
Darvin sucked as a coach why in the world are they talking like he was some elite coach… the lakers won despite the coaching not because of it
This is so wild to me. All year long people been complaining about his rotations and decisions and now that he's fired they are outraged and blaming it on Lebron. Weird
Remember when ESPN used to be good
LA would have been better off keeping Ham and selling everyone off this summer……..
All you LA fans have to look forward to is Bronny coming in the draft…….
This will surely get you guys a chip……
One x
Darvin sucks these dudes are a joke
At this point why would anyone want to coach the Lakers as long as Lebron is there?
I might sound crazy but they should just make LeBron a player/coach and put another coach for the sidelines when he's on the court and they can then groom him to takeover the coach's job when he retires#imjustsayin
if it was a white coach stephen a would be totally fine lol
The NBA now days is full of $#¡+ no appreciation for players and coaches understanding that winning is the ultimate goal they are not perfect 1 day you win you the greatest, next day you loose you the worst player or coach 😮 the Lakers has some of the worse roasters in the NBA with only 3 or 4 good players there s no much a team can do but then again is the coach fault, this is ridiculous 😒 en then letting go the hole coaching team? Really… Really?
Bring back the sports center back in the day we don’t want people arguing about stuff
It’s d lo fault.
canned ham usually is salty
🫙🫙😂😂😂
I never even heard of Darvin Ham before this past season. Have no clue of his credentials, which of course he has to be an NBA coach.
I'm wondering how come former superstars such as Michael Jordan don't coach? Given their competitiveness nature and love and knowledge and experience of the game that they would be way more willing to continue a career in the game on a competitive level such as coaching. I know a few have tried and failed such as Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas, and of course many other's. Actually I'm pretty sure most NBA coaches are all former NBA players…. Larry Bird was a he'll of a coach for the Pacers for 3 short years, taking them to the finals in his last head coaching season before quitting to be the team president of operations.
Does nobody see the reason they won a ring is because magic put together a good team 🤔
Irresponsible reporting by people who have the platform. I am surprised not one of these professionals called Wilbon on it. 2 years before Ham got there they were champs. Management then decided to move players and brought in a player they (and AD and Lebron) thought was going to fit. Now you have a depleted and let’s not forget INJURED team (AD and Lebron dealt with various injuries that kept them out) that loses. Ham comes in and management brings in new blood. Lebron and AD are less injured and play a larger part of the season/ playoffs the Lakers make the conference finals. This year injuries to key players plus bad rotations/ coaching decisions mix with some players (DLo) having slumps. How does AR go from being consistent and overachieving under Vogel to inconsistent under Ham does coaching have nothing to do with it?
Wow Wilbon said superstars are not held accountable!!! AD balled out like crazy and still lost!!! You’re telling me a coach can’t figure out an in game adjustment on defense on the second half and is he not accountable for that. That is plain and simply the coaches job to scheme and game plan for the other team in the game? He played them 11 times prior and didn’t figure it out. Cmon guys acting like this wasn’t justified. Just another media agenda trashing of the players
This is another thorn in LaFlop’s legacy. Sorry, nowhere near Jordan.
They didn’t fire the coach Leborn is still there lmao
Wilbon always there to protect his idol MJ and destroys Lebron. Wildon always bias.