Even if hiring new head coaches and their own group of coaching staff is not unusual for sports organizations, Los Angeles Lakers general manager Rob Palinka and owner Jeanie Buss’ decision to wipe its house clean is still an unexpected move.
The Lakers dismissed Darvin Ham on Friday, and according to Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times, they also fired every coaching staff on the team, including DeMarre Carroll and Lead assistant coach Chris Jent.
Given the controversy surrounding Darvin Ham following the Lakers’ five-game playoff loss to the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs, one year after Denver swept the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals of the previous season, it was inevitable that the Lakers would fire Ham.
Michael Wilbon launched into a classic fastball tirade against LeBron James and Anthony Davis in response to this controversy. Wilbon stated on Friday’s episode of ESPN’s “Pardon the Interruption”: “You don’t blame this cryptically or backhandedly on Darvin Ham.” Nobody wearing a Laker uniform should be able to tell me that Darvin Ham was the main issue.”
“Yes, LeBron and Anthony Davis were outstanding in that series, but Denver was a stronger opponent, so let’s go for it.”
“In addition to being a fantastic coach, he’s a nice man. With his help, a club that had done nothing the year before and missed the playoffs advanced to the conference finals last year, earning praises from both LeBron and Anthony Davis,” Wilbon added.
However, after the loss, Charania, Jovan Buha, and Sam Amick of The Athletic provided updates on the issue, pointing out that it was “very unlikely” that Ham would make a comeback after the “unflattering” postseason setback.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski claims that during a phone conversation with Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka on Friday, May 3, 2024, Ham was notified of his release.
According to a statement the organization posted on Friday morning, “We greatly appreciate Darvin’s efforts on behalf of the Lakers and recognize the many accomplishments achieved over the past two seasons, including last year’s remarkable run to the Western Conference Finals,” Pelinka stated. “We’d like to express our gratitude to Darvin for his commitment and optimism. After a thorough evaluation of the season, this was a tough choice to make, but it’s the right one. This organization will never waver in its resolve to provide Lakers fans worldwide with basketball of championship caliber”.
Assistant coach Phil Handy was one of the staff members that were sacked, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. As an assistant to both Ham and former head coach Frank Vogel, Handy has been with the Lakers since 2019.
In particular, Handy’s leaving is unexpected because he was a highly regarded assistant coach. In the past, there have even been rumors that Handy may take over as head coach. On January 5, Sam Amick of The Athletic said that Handy was a “possible pick” to succeed Ham in the event that the latter were sacked.
Handy was not, however, one of the Lakers’ possible head coaching candidates that were made public on Friday.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Los Angeles will be pursuing former Milwaukee Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer, Golden State Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson, and former sharpshooter as well as current ESPN analyst JJ Redick.
According to USA Today, Lakers might also be targeting Terry Stotts, the head coach for three teams – Atlanta, Milwaukee and Portland, Ty Lue is the coach of the Los Angeles Clippers, and Mark Jackson, the former Warriors coach and NBA analyst for ESPN/ABC for the post of the new head coach.
Practically speaking, Handy was the only member of the staff who was likely to be retained to take over as head coach. None of the assistants that Ham employed had any head coaching experience and most of them were directly connected to him in Atlanta or Milwaukee.
Even while firing every staff wasn’t the ideal course of action, it did seem like the most likely alternative. The job is also more attractive to a new coach who comes in with a clean slate.
That being said, it would be unfortunate if the Lakers didn’t have any other plans aside from firing their whole coaching staff in order to bring about a winning change for the club. In that case, Ham and Handy’s release from service would have been in vain.