The Los Angeles Lakers made the most high-profile coaching change of the 2024 NBA offseason. After just two seasons, including a trip to the Western Conference Finals, Los Angeles parted ways with Darvin Ham and began a high-profile and downright controversial search for a replacement.
After the Dan Hurley saga yielded more chaos than decisiveness, the Lakers landed on a head coach whom they believe has a Pat Riley level of potential: JJ Redick.
The early returns from the Redick investment have been positive, as players have offered praise for his approach to training camp and offseason workouts. Christian Wood all but directly compared Ham and Redick's approaches to the game, citing a more detail-oriented style on the latter's behalf.
According to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN, the differences that Wood described offer insight into what caused the divide between Ham and Lakers superstar LeBron James in 2023-24.
"Those that know James best say he craves structure and accountability. He thrives in disciplined, highly organized systems. He does his best when everyone on the team understands their role. All are elements he had lost faith in under the Lakers' previous regime, sources said."
It's too soon to determine if Redick will check those boxes long-term, but the fact that he's creating an environment within which James prefers to operate is a promising sign.
LeBron James lost faith in Darvin Ham over lack of structure, accountability
Ham produced quality results in Los Angeles, including the aforementioned trip to the 2023 Western Conference Finals. 2023-24 was a season best described by the word convoluted, as the Lakers never seemed to have a clear idea of who they were or what they wanted to be.
Injuries played a factor, but the context of that reality seemingly explains why James lost faith in his head coach by the end of the season.
Ham started 12 different players during the 2023-24 regular season. That would've been justifiable if the injuries sustained were by the five best players on the team, but the unfortunate reality is that his approach backfired and effectively decimated the Lakers' postseason seeding.
It wasn't until February 3 that Ham committed to the starting lineup of Anthony Davis, Rui Hachimura, James, Austin Reaves, and D'Angelo Russell—when the team was 25-25 through 50 games.
Anthony Davis: "We have stretches where we don't know what we're doing on both ends of the floor... Just got to get it right on Thursday." pic.twitter.com/4agots9D6L
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) April 23, 2024
From that point forward, Los Angeles went 22-10—producing the fifth-best winning percentage in the NBA. Unfortunately, the damage was done by 50 games of indecision, which included Hacimura, Reaves, and Russell all spending extended stretches as reserves.
Despite the fact that the starting five Ham ultimately utilized was comprised of the consensus five best players on the team, it wasn't until game 51 that he made the change.
That's even more difficult to process when one considers that all five of those players appeared in at least 68 games. Furthermore, the Lakers outscored opponents by a team-best 6.6 points per 100 possessions with that five-man lineup—and personal issues between Ham and several players cast a cloud of doubt over the motivation behind the structure of the rotation.
With a head coach whose philosophy seems to align with what James and many other Lakers have been hoping for, perhaps the 2024-25 season will reveal what the team is truly capable of.