Dominating the NBA for over two decades now, LeBron James demands a certain level authority in his team. Having faced every situation imaginable during his legendary career, Bron doesn’t shy away from going off script last minute to get his team a victory. Meaning, the seat under anyone coaching him will be pretty hot. Comes in Darvin Ham and one questionable act.

After hiring Darvin Ham on an exciting note in 2022, the Lakers were quick to fire him. Suddenly the hottest job in the league – to coach the Los Angeles side, opened up. And the requirements? Someone who possesses the attributes Ham and other past coaches lacked. When you read between the lines, it means the Lakers are looking for someone who can command the team, hold the respect for their best player(s), i.e. King James and Anthony Davis, and optimize the gameplay depending on what LeBron feels fit. The person should also be taking accountability in front of the world, and not hiding behind the board, sketching things out on paper before a team huddle.

This is something Darvin Ham was doing in the shocking leaked video we all saw. And the Akron Hammer did not like that. He went ahead, hollering at his coach, “Give me the board”. The entire fiasco caught a lot of attention in this past week. He wanted to draw up a play by himself, which, of course, startled the NBA World. Everyone, including the NBA legend Matt Barnes, deemed LeBron’s actions excusable because he had seen that movie multiple times before. Matter of fact, James disappointed in Ham has been caught on camera multiple times.

While discussing the Lakers’ failure on All The Smoke Unplugged Podcast with his co-host Stephen Jackson, Barnes defended LeBron taking over Ham’s job during crunch time. “I’ve seen a lot of players do it in those minutes. I’ve seen Andre Iguodala do it with the Warriors”, he admitted. But the energy in such situations was poles apart. While Andre, when he did take over the coach at the time, was a team player with an “I got it, coach” mentality, the co-hosts feel Bron’s energy was rather aggressive in the leaked video.

Then, the Clippers legend pointed out that there are two sides to working with LeBron, “Coaching Bron ain’t easy. Guys have fallen wayside”. They both discuss what happened with David Blatt when he was coaching King James. Blatt was touted to be the prodigal hero of the European League. But then, the coach was suddenly fired from the Cleveland side, despite them holding a great record at the time. His team was successful, but ironically, the coach wasn’t. And what’s even worse is that even after getting fired, no other team gave Blatt a chance. His coaching career went from coaching one of the best teams in the league to having no job overnight.

Probably Blatt was doing what a coach is supposed to do. He did not give his players that much liberty and freedom, even when that player was LeBron James. And probably that’s why he got fired after a short run. This explains why the hosts say, “Bron is a gift and a curse”.

Coaching one of the best players in NBA history while he is still playing at a high level at age 39 certainly puts a lot of eyeballs on LeBron’s head coaches. However, if LeBron’s team fails like it did this season, most of the time, the head coaches are the first to be blamed and face the consequences. And that is evident from the fact that since LeBron has joined the Lakers, they have already let go of three head coaches, and are currently looking for a new one.

Should LeBron James be blamed for coaches sacked?

It is true that the L-Train teams have changed 4 coaches in last 6 years. It is also true that his 21-year career has had nine coaches changed (seven fired). But should this mean Bron gains something by someone losing their job? Unlikely. One might disagree, but it is perhaps part of a high-performance culture that he alongside his teammates wishes to build.

While Matt Barnes defended LeBron’s actions, his co-host Stephen Jackson could not understand why LeBron never gets blamed for his team’s failures like other superstars. “Star players normally get the bulk of the heat. But for some reason, when it’s dealing with LeBron and Lakers, he gets no blame.” Citing the example of his former teammates, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili receiving a lot of criticism for not being able to win during the tail end of their careers, Jackson wondered why the same treatment was not given to LeBron.

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But it is LeBron James we are talking about here. He is a great player, even when he flops, loses the ball, or is injured; he is a literal walking legend. He has led his team to 10 NBA Finals, winning 4 Championships. But he is also human. So even when he is rubbing some people in the wrong way, he is only building legacy, for himself and his teammates. Yes, he can be criticized for his actions, but that is part of success. Many people even criticized Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant for some of their actions, but then again, they are still legends. And so will James remain.

So, should LeBron be blamed because he is unhappy with most of his coaches throughout his life? Or for the fact that he berates them vividly, or even when he does not accept, he might as well be part of the decision-making team for the Lakers who have changed many coaches in the past decade, or for yelling “Listen! I got it, I got it. Hey! Give me the board.” No matter what people blame him for, the truth of the matter is that Darvin Ham got fired just a season after taking the team to the Western Conference Finals, similar to Frank Vogel getting fired just two years after leading the Lakers to a Championship. Yet, James’ ambition lives on, hopeful for the next ring.