Hot seat watch: 4 NBA coaches who could be fired this season
By Kevin Reyes
3. Darvin Ham, Los Angeles Lakers
He's the head coach of LeBron James' team. Coupled with that, he's the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. His seat is always going to be hot.
For years, Ham was one of those assistant coaches that always interviewed for multiple openings, but could never land the job. That is, until Frank Vogel was fired from the Lakers in 2022 and Ham landed the gig. His task was a difficult one: immediately compete for a championship with the duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and integrate Russell Westbrook who was acquired in the offseason. The fit was questionable at best and on the court it was tough. However, Ham put him in a reserve role where his fit was maximized until he was traded mid-season. And, when they acquired a guard that fit better in D'Angelo Russell, they played better in the second half, going 12-5 in games where he played.
They parlayed that success into the playoffs, where they beat the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Play-In, beat the second-seed Memphis Grizzlies in the first round, the Golden State Warriors in the second round, and lost in a competitive sweep to the eventual champions in the Denver Nuggets. In retaining Austin Reaves, one of the young stars of the playoffs last year, and signing young athletic wings and bigs (Taurean Prince, Christian Wood, Jaxson Hayes, Cam Reddish) and a shooter in Gabe Vincent, one would've thought they could continue their momentum into this season. But that hasn't happened.
The Lakers appeared to have righted the ship in the past two weeks. But if they slide again or get knocked out of the playoffs early, Ham could be the fall guy.