5 candidates to replace Darvin Ham as Lakers head coach
By Jason Reed
The Los Angeles Lakers have struggled immensely since winning the NBA In-Season Tournament and Darvin Ham's seat is officially warm. Shams Charania and Jovan Buha of The Athletic reported that there is a growing disconnect between Ham and the Lakers locker room. As a result, his time with the team could be limited.
Hiring a new head coach during the season is never an easy thing to do and it is even harder when the team in question has title aspirations. If the Lakers are going to fire Ham then the team needs to be sure about the head coach they bring in to replace him.
There are also naturally fewer options available during the season than there would be in the offseason. Alas, the Lakers do still have some compelling candidates to potentially choose from.
5 coaches the Lakers could hire to replace Darvin Ham:
Mark Jackson
Mark Jackson is probably the least exciting name on this list. Jackson hasn't coached since Steve Kerr replaced him as the head coach of the Golden State Warriors despite there being dozens and dozens of job openings in the process. That is typically a bad sign.
Lakers fans would rightfully be worried about the team hiring Jackson and there definitely is no guarantee that it would work. All that being said, fans need to remember who has the most influence on this decision, and how Jackson is connected in that way.
If the Lakers fire Ham it will likely be at the demand of LeBron James and Anthony Davis. If that is the case, the two Klutch Sports clients are definitely going to let their two cents be heard about which head coach they want to bring in. Jackson was previously represented by Klutch Sports and LeBron reportedly has pushed for Jackson to be hired before (with the Cavs).
He may no longer be represented by Klutch but the ties are still there. With the Lakers interviewing him before hiring Ham, there is already some familiarity there.