The Lakers’ coaching situation is unlikely to change mid-season because Darvin Ham has Jeanie Buss’ support.
Darvin Ham has been on the hot seat in LA for the last month, losing 10 out of 14 games since the team’s In-Season Tournament win in December. Ham can rest a little easier after a big Lakers win over the Clippers ended their four-game losing streak. But Lakers insider Sam Amick of The Athletic believes Ham’s job would have been safe even if the Lakers lost to the Clippers because Jeanie Buss still supports him.
“It’s the informed opinion of this particular NBA scribe that he would not have been fired even if they had lost (vs. Clippers) Sunday. And that was before discussing the situation with Ham long after the game was over. But as he shared in a conversation with The Athletic, there’s a significant factor in play here that should not be forgotten: 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.”
The pressure on firing Ham seemed to have hit an apex when the Lakers lost 110-96 to the Miami Heat, with Ham being out-coached and reports of locker room frustrations coming out. There is no obvious upgrade that the Lakers can find in the coaching market, so it seems the discussions around Ham’s job were excessive, especially with Buss’ continued support of the coach.
All of that could change in a heartbeat nonetheless. If the Lakers followed up the Clippers win with five unanswered losses, even Buss would need to take action and make changes whether it be via trade or firing the coach.
Jeanie Buss Influenced Frank Vogel’s Firing
In the same report where Amick shared his feelings on Ham’s job security, he revealed what went on in LA when they decided to fire Frank Vogel after the playoff-missing 2021-22 season. Jeanie Buss allegedly blamed Vogel for failing to integrate Russell Westbrook into the roster and greenlighted his firing.
“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.”
Vogel had lost the Lakers locker room by that point, so his firing wasn’t a unilateral Buss decision. But her belief that Westbrook was not fitting into the roster because of Vogel in the first season was proven wrong within a few weeks of Ham’s tenure. It became clear that Westbrook needed to be traded as he couldn’t fit with LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and the team benefitted after trading him way last February.
The defense-heavy makeup of the current Lakers roster likely would have brought out the best in Vogel, but his standing as a coach isn’t looking great amidst the Suns’ struggling his first season back in the NBA.
Given what Ham did last season with the Western Conference Finals run and the In-Season Tournament win in December, his job security is strong enough to last till the end of the season. Even Vogel wasn’t fired mid-season in 2021-22, so it’s unlikely they suddenly treat Ham like a pariah and go into the market for a replacement with few eligible candidates.
