Lakers News: Darvin Ham Complains About… LA Fans’ Interest In His Team?

Ham has the hottest seat in the league.

LA head coach Darvin Ham has been on the hot seat to a degree for the past couple of weeks throughout LA’s recent struggles, but losses to the Pelicans, Timberwolves, Celtics, Heat, and now the Grizzlies, along with a series of questionable lineup, changes have tipped it over the edge.

Ham is now officially on the hot seat, with fans calling for his firing. Noticeable issues with the Lakers’ on-court product that we hadn’t previously seen have surfaced, as his club has lost four games in a row and gone just 3-10 since winning the In-Season Tournament last month.

Despite Ham likely needing the fans to rally behind him in the face of adversity, he instead issued a bizarre statement to the press after the loss, per Greg Beacham of The Associated Press.

“This is the NBA, man,” Ham said. “This is a marathon. You have to look at the totality of the picture. I’m tired of people living and dying with every single game we play. It’s ludicrous, actually. It’s like, ‘Come on, man. This is a marathon.’ We hit a tough stretch. It’s the same team. We played some high-level games a little while ago, and we’ve just got to get back to that. We’ve got to keep the fight, though. We cannot lose our fight.”

The Lakers’ fanbase is definitely known for being reactionary, but at the same time, it’s indisputable that the team is streaking, has obvious causes for concern, and may be at their peak right now as it pertains to health. To that end, criticizing Ham, the team, his rotations, his offense, etc. is all fair game – especially given that just a couple of weeks ago, when things felt more reactionary than this, all the negatives have come true.

Separately, Ham’s comments can be perceived as a slap in the face of Lakers fans everywhere. Sure, the fanbase tends to “live and die with every game” the team plays, but most of that is rooted in dedication and love for the team. If fans were to check out from a game-to-game basis and instead, focus only on the end result, the journey, attachment to the team, and fandom that comes from watching and attending all 82 games disappears.

Ham had few remaining defenders, but for what it’s worth, he may have just lost the small quantity of supporters he had. Someone else might be on the sideline for when the Lakers take on the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday.