The rumors of locker room tensions at the Lakers are rife, but head coach Darvin Ham has addressed the chatter head on as his team endures a rough slump.
“I’m solid,” Ham said of his job security. “My governor, Jeanie Buss, the boss lady; our president, Robert Pelinka — we’re all aligned. As long as they’re not saying it, I guess I’m good. Which I know how they feel about me and the situation we’re currently in.”
The Athletic posted a story last week that claimed there was a “deepening disconnect” between Ham and the Lakers’ locker room, to which Ham said “comes with the territory.”
“I don’t mind people critiquing the job I’m doing,” Ham said. “All I’m going to do is keep my head down and continue to do my job until I can’t do it anymore. And so, just, be solid with what you’re putting out there and please don’t intertwine it with personal attacks, either. So, that’s what it is, that’s what I signed up for when I decided to become a coach and I’ve been around some great guys who have handled it well and some coaches that haven’t handled it so well. But me? I’m solid, man. I’ve been through a ton of ‘ish’ in my life and this is a walk in the park. Trust me.”
After Ham’s comments, the Lakers fell 127-113 to the Grizzlies on their own home court, which marked their fourth straight loss.
The franchise have gone just 3-10 since winning the In-Season Tournament in December, but Ham doesn’t seem perturbed.
“It is what it is,” Ham said. “It’s the NBA man. This is a marathon and you have to look at the totality of the picture. I’m tired of people living and dying with every single game we play like it’s ludicrous actually. It’s like, come on man. This is a marathon and we hit a tough stretch. It’s the same team that played some high-level games a little while ago and we just got to get back to that. We got to keep the fight though. We cannot lose our fight.”