Los Angeles Lakers Rumors: Darvin Ham Good as Gone After First Round Exit vs. Denver Nuggets

Darvin Ham’ Unlikely’ to be Retained as Los Angeles Lakers Head Coach

Ham has always been under fire, especially from unhappy Laker fans on social media, every time the team loses, but Monday night’s 108-106 heartbreaker of a defeat at the hands of the Denver Nuggets could be the last straw as far as his coaching career with the Purple & Gold is concerned.

Via The Athletic:

The Lakers’ unflattering finish leaves Ham’s future as head coach in serious peril, multiple league and team sources tell The Athletic, with some stakeholders indicating it’s highly unlikely he’ll return. The plan is to reassess everything that went wrong in the coming days before making a final decision. In 2022, Ham signed a four-year deal in the range of $5 million per season, so the team would be assuming the remainder of his deal if he is fired.

The Lakers could have some tough decisions to make in the offseason, and that would most likely include their plan on Ham, who was hired by Los Angeles in 2022 to be the successor of Frank Vogel. Ham steered the Lakers all the way to the Western Conference Finals in his first season as their head coach but lost that series to the Nuggets. It’s the same fate they had this time around, except it happened so early in the playoffs.