Darvin Ham Destroys Lakers Management Over His Offseason Departure

The Los Angeles Lakers are 14-12 for the season, sitting in tenth place in the Western Conference. That is now where the fanbase and the organization hoped they would be after they replaced Darvin Ham with JJ Redick in the offseason.

After a conference finals run and a first-round exit in his two-year tenure in Los Angeles, Ham was made the scapegoat. Now, the Lakers have taken a step back defensively and actually have a -2.7 net rating, suggesting that they have won more games than their overall performance indicates.

Meanwhile, Darvin Ham just won his second straight NBA Cup. On Tuesday, the Milwaukee Bucks, with Ham as Doc Rivers' lead assistant, defeated the OKC Thunder to win the second-ever In-Season Tournament. After the victory, Ham didn't hold back against the Lakers per Andscape's Marc J. Spears.

Ham responded to the criticism he received as the Lakers head coach and defended his track record.

"To do as well as I did, I swear to God, anywhere else I’m probably looking at an extension with what I did. "

- Darvin Ham

Ham added that he took a team that didn't make it to the playoffs to the conference finals and an NBA Cup win. He said that his losses against the Nuggets get a lot of attention, while he doesn't get any credit for defeating the Warriors and the Grizzlies in the playoffs.

We will never know whether the Lakers would be in a better spot if Ham stayed. This Lakers roster is nowhere near title contention, and Ham did his best to take them as far as he did. This team is a play-in level team and they are headed there again this season, barring any major trades from GM Rob Pelinka.

Was Darvin Ham the best head coach the Lakers could have? Probably not. But he was also not the problem. This Lakers season is the undeniable evidence for that.

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