The Lakers played a shameful game Wednesday night, losing at home to a Miami squad that didn't have Jimmy Butler in a game that looked worse than the score. (And the score wasn't good.)
They were listless, turnover-happy and wildly out of sorts, the next step in a post-IST progression to really bad basketball. The vibe has clearly been off, based on body language and postgame comments and on-court performance. On Thursday, what was supposition and background chatter was pushed front and center by a report from Shams Charania and Jovan Buha at The Athletic, detailing a "disconnect" between Darvin Ham and the roster, based in part on Ham's rotation choices and a lack of clarity around what the team was trying to do.
So how big a problem is this? How much of LA's recent struggles are a function of the players? Of Ham? Of context?
Can they pull themselves out of this before it costs Ham his job? (Is that the goal, if you're a Lakers player?)
Clearly not everything happening with/to the Lakers is Ham's fault. The front office and the players themselves have plenty of responsibility as well. But multiple things can be true at once - Darvin can be dealt a difficult hand, and still not navigate things effectively. Where has he gone wrong? What has happened that has prevented the Lakers from recapturing last year's late season success? How has the context changed?
HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky
SEGMENT 1: The Athletic reports that Darvin Ham and the Lakers roster are not on the same page.
SEGMENT 2: What has been the issue? Is it individual decisions, or the larger vision?
SEGMENT 3: The context of this year vs. last is very different. Has Ham adjusted accordingly?
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