Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James has continued to play at a high level and accomplish things that have never been done before.
King James’ latest historical conquest happened during the Lakers’ 124-114 loss to the Denver Nuggets. In the loss, James became the first player in NBA history to reach 40,000 career points.
The latest milestone is just the tip of the iceberg for James in his illustrious career.
Even in James’ greatness not all has been sound on the home front as it pertains to his track record with head coaches. That’s reportedly no different under second-year sideline stalker Darvin Ham whose moves, or lack thereof, have been questioned.
That’s also reportedly caused James to do his own thing on the floor more often than not.
James Telling Teammates To Ignore Coach?
Per Lakers Insider Anthony Irwin, James has frequently overruled Ham’s play calls and run his own plays. A source recently told Irwin this about that dynamic.
“He sits in the huddle and gets his rest/water, rolls his eyes as Ham speaks, and waits for the huddle to break,” the source told Lakers Daily Anthony Irwin. “If Ham ever draws up a play, as soon as the huddle breaks James will tell everyone else on the court with him f— all that and calls a play, his own play.”
If you watch Lakers games, hearing that isn’t all that surprising, as you can see James’ demeanor and actions in and out of timeouts at times. It’s also no secret that at every stop of his career James has always been the system, so him calling his own number or changing plays isn’t too unfamiliar either.
Often times you can see James in the huddle telling Ham and others what he thinks will work, and more often than not he’s correct.
Is Ham Safe?
As it pertains to James and his coaches in the past, you could almost tell when a coach’s time was up. When James wasn’t feeling a coach there’s usually been a move made. That didn’t happen in Miami, where James gave Heat team president Pat Riley a not-so-subtle nudge to replace Erik Spoelstra with himself, which Riley quickly shot down, and even mentioned in his book “The Soul Of Basketball.”
As of now, Ham, who led the Lakers to the Western Conference Finals in his first season despite being in the play-in, seems to have the Lakers brass on his side.
Per The Athletic, Ham has the ear of team owner Jeannie Buss, which matters most:
“While Ham has issues to resolve both in his locker room and elsewhere within Laker Land, he has the continued support of owner Jeanie Buss.”
Unlike the situation with former coach Frank Vogel, Buss was known to believe the former coach was largely to blame for the failed integration of Russell Westbrook and ultimately green-lighted his April 2022 firing as a result. All signs point to the Lakers’ most important decision-maker standing by the coach, who is in the second-year of a four-year deal.
This sounds good, but only time will tell come the playoffs and how the Lakers fare with James a free agent at season’s end.
