The first thing most of the Los Angeles Lakers faithful did after their squad got bounced in the NBA Playoffs yet again was hurl vitriol toward someone. Who was at the receiving end of comments that insisted that they get fired? Well, it was Darvin Ham. From comments about being lost delivered by Anthony Davis to LeBron James being defiant, one can see why the collapse could be his fault. But, Draymond Green sees the situation differently.
Don't fire him
The Golden State Warriors forward argues that there is not a singular person responsible for how horrid the Lakers play. This squad should be able to take the blame collectively from LeBron James, and Anthony Davis, to the rest of the squad until ownership. Draymond Green outlined why giving Darvin Ham the boot would just be an odd move to kickstart the Lakers' offseason, via The Volume.
“I think it'd be wrong to fire him. He'll catch a lot of flak for the season that they had but their roster didn't get better than last year and they were a play-in team. Yeah, they made it to the Conference Finals with LeBron James and Anthony Davis playing the way that they were playing but they didn't get better,” the Warriors legend declared.
Last season, the Lakers finished the regular season sitting seventh in the Western Conference standings. They had the 20th-ranked offensive rating that clocks in at 114.5 and a defensive rating ranked 11th at 113.9 value. There was not much that changed in the personnel, schemes, and even in their rotations. So, the league caught up to them.
The Lakers then finished eighth this year. Their offensive rating got better at 115.9 which propelled them to have the 15th ranking. On the other side of the floor, the defensive execution of the LeBron James and Anthony Davis-led squad got worse. They dipped all the way to 16th and had a 115.3 rating.
Lakers didn't move the needle too much
Green does not only think that they ran nearly the same Lakers squad back from last year. He also posits that the squad lost key rotational players in the point guard spot.
“They lost Dennis Schroder. I don't think they replaced him well. Gabe Vincent didn't bring anything to the season. Obviously, he was hurt,” he added about the Lakers' point guard conundrum.
So, the conclusion was quite simple for Green. Ham did not have much to work with anyway. This meant that there may be blame to go around but it should not solely be on the Lakers head honcho. He even blasted the fans calling for the coach's firing after they got eliminated in the NBA Playoffs.
“I don't think the roster got better but you expected better results. But, everybody would blame Darvin Ham like it's his fault. Is it really? Hopefully, they don't just fire Darvin like it's his fault and no one else's fault. I think that's garbage,” he concluded.
The Lakers have yet again entered a lengthy offseason. Will they use it to get better and be propelled into a higher seed in the NBA Playoffs next year?
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