The Los Angeles Lakers are currently tenth in the Western Conference and have a score of 18-19 in the season. The Lakers early in the season also became the first team to clinch the In-Season Tournament Trophy; however, they have seen their struggles as well.
The Lakers squad has one of the best duos in the league, with LeBron James and Anthony Davis in their lineup.
The community is expecting much more from the squad currently headed by Darvin Ham. The Los Angeles Lakers have recently defeated their close competitors, the Los Angeles Clippers, with a concluding score of 106-103.
With the win, the Lakers have broken their four-game losing streak and the Clippers winning streak of five games has been successfully broken as well. The Lakers defeated the Clippers by a three-point margin, and in the matchup, LeBron scored 25 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, and one steal.
Anthony Davis posted 22 points, 10 rebounds, one assist, three steals, and one block. Both D"Angelo Russell and Taurean Prince posted 13 points and concluded their game. From the Clippers’ side, Paul George scored 22 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and five steals.
Zubac posted 22 points, 19 rebounds, and 1 assist. Harden and Leonard both scored 15 points against the Lakers. The Lakers were pushed further in the game by LeBron’s all-round performance.
However, even when the Lakers were amidst their struggles and troubles for their lacklustre play, the owner, Jeanie Buss, continued to give her support to Darvin Ham.
This fact was clear before the Lakers defeated the Clippers: Ham"s job would not be in immediate peril. He has continually received the confidence of the most important member, the owner of the Lakers, Jeanie Buss.
Lakers coach Darvin Ham said he still feels support from Jeanie Buss and Rob Pelinka pic.twitter.com/1YnR4a3mas
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) January 6, 2024
Ham had also shared recently that "It comes with the territory. I"m solid. My governor, Jeanie Buss, the boss lady, our president, Robert Pelinka. We"re all aligned. As long as they"re not saying it, I guess I"m good. I know how they feel about me and the current situation we"re in. We"re all on the same page."
The Athletic’s Sam Amick has also recently stated, "Unlike the [Frank] Vogel situation, where Buss was known to believe the former coach was largely to blame for the failed integration of Russell Westbrook and ultimately greenlighted 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."
"There’s a mutual respect in that relationship, one that resulted in Buss sending a lengthy text message of support to Ham in the wake of Thursday’s report in The Athletic that chronicled the rising pressure that surrounds him. Buss could certainly change her stance, of course, but the current state of affairs suggests Ham still has time to turn this around."
The head coach of the Lakers, Ham, via The Athletic, had also expressed, "I know the situation. I’ve been here before. I started here. So I understand the gravity of being with Kobe (Bryant), with (Milwaukee’s) Giannis (Antetokounmpo, whom he coached as an assistant from 2018 to 2022) and now with (LeBron), of what you’re fighting for. And I’m the same (as them). I’ve won two championships (one as a player with the Pistons in 2004, and the other with the Bucks as an assistant in 2021)."
"That’s the most addictive drug ever, you know what I’m saying? So you’ve got a situation where I want to get back to that. But we can’t skip steps, and there’s certain s— that we’re gonna have to go through."
