Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham. Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Analyst crushes Lakers' Darvin Ham for 'staggering incompetence'

By Adam Taylor | Last updated 4/12/24

The Los Angeles Lakers are ninth in the Western Conference. They've struggled to build on their trip to the Western Conference Finals last season. Their production has suffered since winning the inaugural in-season tournament.

Head coach Darvin Ham has been scrutinized for his team's lack of consistency. His penchant for chopping and changing his lineups has also been questioned.

In a recent episode of his "Hoops Tonight" podcast, The Volume's Jason Timpf gave his scathing review of the Lakers' struggles throughout the regular season, putting the blame firmly at Ham's feet.

"Darvin Ham just completely Galaxy Brained the entire coaching job for the Lakers this year," Timpf said. "Middle of January, halfway through the season, the three highest paid players that aren't LeBron James and Anthony Davis, benched them all and leaned heavily into lineups with players that would not crack the rotation for any serious team in the league. It's staggering incompetence."

"Darvin Ham just completely galaxy brained the entire coaching job for the Lakers this year... it's STAGGERING incompetence"

—@_JasonLT delivers the eulogy for the 2023/24 Los Angeles Lakers pic.twitter.com/PMHczzqnY4
— The Volume (@TheVolumeSports) April 10, 2024

The Lakers were in a similar position last season. They had to navigate the play-in tournament after finishing the season as the seventh seed. Then, they made an impressive run. Unfortunately, Ham's squad came up short against Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets in the conference finals.

Still, there's every chance the Lakers will figure things out once the playoffs begin. LeBron James and Anthony Davis will undoubtedly raise their games.

Ham has enough talent at his disposal to potentially make a run back to the Western Conference Finals. If he falls short, he may find himself out of a job during the summer. However, that's always the risk when coaching a team such as the Lakers, where expectations are always championship or bust.

There's no doubt that Ham deserves some of the blame for the Lakers' malaise this season. His job is to put them in a position to contend and succeed. Still, it's also on the players to go out and perform each night.

As such, Timpf's criticism at this current juncture is a little too harsh. Ham could still turn the team's season around. Drawing final conclusions on the coach's performance should wait until the team's season is over; only then will we have the full picture.

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