The situation in the City of Angels is getting progressively worse. After getting out from under Russell Westbrook’s contract, the team was able to rally to a Western Conference Finals berth last season. What was then seen as a typically excellent off-season hasn’t yielded results. Following their ninth loss in 12 games against the Miami Heat, a loss that had put the Lakers below .500 for the first time since Nov. 11, a rumor broke out—a locker room disconnect between the coach and players.

With fingers pointing at Darvin Ham, Shaquille O’Neal was ready to discuss the situation of his old team. On the latest episode of ‘The Big Podcast with Shaq’, the 4x champion shared his views. “Well, I know for a fact, in a locker room, resume is important. You mean to tell me LeBron [James] is going to listen to Darvin Ham in the thick of things? I know the answer to that, I’ll let you figure it out. You think AD [ Anthony Davis] listens to Darvin Ham?”

“All the other guys may listen to Darvin. That’s no disrespect to Darvin Ham. But, no championship experience, no playoff experience. So, if I’m a guy that, you know, been there, been to the title run a lot, why would I listen to a guy that hasn’t been there? So, you definitely have to be on the same page.” 

But would Shaq consider coaching the team? “No, never,” he said. Why? “I smack people.” Clearly, not a coaching style many would appreciate. But back in 2022, O’Neal was ready to coach Lakers if they offered him $25 million a year. He had also stated that he would only take the head coach job and not be an assistant.

Coming back to the conversation on his podcast, he was also of the opinion that Lakers’ players all need to take a firm stand, move the team forward and not solely depend on LeBron James. In a similar vein, the 4x NBA Champion believes it was the resume of his head coaches that led to his success as well. “That’s the reason I won with coaches that have been there. Cuz, like, when all my other coaches talking, I’m like, ‘I don’t think that’s gonna work.’ But, when Phil [Jackson] comes in and said,

“‘All the summers I gotta sweat’? I was f***ing watching him. And when I got to Miami [Heat]  and Pat [Riley] says it. Okay, when I was in high school and college, I was watching you.” 

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Ham’s induction to the Lakers team in 2022 was reported to award him a great deal of autonomy. Not only was he able to hire his own coaching staff but he came at a time when Lakers were in a search of a crucial skill in their coach. That is the ability to communicate and hold people accountable. In fact, right after the team fired Frank Vogel, the GM announced this in a presser, “In terms of what this team needs right now… we want a strong voice… And I think that’s going to be one of the resounding qualities that we look for in terms of holding everybody from the top player on our team to the 15th man to a degree of accountability.”

Just a day after the news came out, LBJ had tweeted, “So damn excited. Congrats and welcome Coach Dham!!” However, the stance must have changed withing the confines of the locker room. Of recent, the disconnect rumor came as a result of extreme rotation and starting lineup adjustments.

Ham has presented quite a number of headscratchers recently

In their latest game against Miami, the coach used his 10th starting lineup of this season. Not to forget, this was the third lineup in three games. In fact, the Lakers are yet to identify their best lineup. Another case of overcorrection was when the coach decided to bench D’Angelo Russell for Jarred Vanderbilt.

In the coach’s defense, this was done to bolster the defense-first strategy. But the downside was a faulty starting lineup that would fail to support Anthony Davis and James. In the press conference, when asked whether he was open to reinstating the original starting lineup, he assured that they were open to every possibility and that “everything is on the table that makes sense.”

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The last few weeks have been a step in the right direction. After the closely contested win against the Raptors yesterday, the Lakers are now at 19-19, and sit 10th in the West.

Should the Lakers Avoid Firing Darvin Ham and Look to Rebuild the Whole Team?