Michael Malone argues for Darvin Ham to keep his job after Nuggets eliminate Lakers

The Denver Nuggets are moving on to the Western Conference Semifinals. Their next test to defend their NBA title will be a date with the red-hot Minnesota Timberwolves.

For the Los Angeles Lakers, the season is over. The team lost to Denver by a final score of 108-106 in Game 5 and in the series 4-1. Darvin Ham's tenure as the Lakers' head coach may also be over.

However, despite all the talk of Ham being replaced, Nuggets coach Michael Malone wants people to pump the brakes. In his postgame interview, Malone vouched for Ham and stated that he hopes to see him coaching the Lakers again next season.

"I think Darvin Ham is a hell of a coach. That's not an easy job. I think Darvin does it with class," said Malone. "He's a good man, good coach, and I wish him all the best. Hopefully, he'll be around there for a long time because he deserves to be.

Michael Malone vouches for Darvin Ham after Game 5 win

After a disastrous 2021-22 season, the Lakers fired Frank Vogel and replaced him with Ham, who has led the Lakers to the playoffs in back-to-back seasons, even reaching the Western Conference Finals last summer.

But even with all the talk of Ham being replaced soon, Malone made sure to stick up for his friend and praise him for the job he has done with the Lakers.

"I got to give the Lakers a lot of credit," Malone said. "That was a hard-fought series, a lot harder than that 4-1 final score would indicate because we had to scrap for every game that we won this series.

Ham has helped improve the Lakers over the past two seasons and has been able to turn them into a playoff-caliber team. They have not won a title since the 2019-20 season, however, which may be what is leading to the speculation that he'll be on his way out soon.

But Malone doesn't think that should be the case and is hoping that the Lakers continue to see what they've seen in him over the past couple of years, as well as what Malone himself sees.

The Lakers won their Play-In game against the New Orleans Pelicans and advanced to play Malone and the Nuggets. Los Angeles entered their series in Denver brimming with confidence and hoping to repay the favor from last summer. They won Game 4 to force a Game 5 and even led last night's game at halftime.

But the Nuggets were just too strong. Still, Ham certainly deserves credit for the job he has done in Los Angeles. Malone thinks so and hopes to see his friend coaching the Lakers again next season.

We'll see if the Lakers' front office agrees and decides to keep him around.