Head Coach Darvin Ham Has Harsh Message For Lakers Amid Slump

The Los Angeles Lakers won the NBA In-Season Tournament after beating their opponents with minimum effort. Although experts had questions about their depth, Lakers players managed to celebrate their victory. Well, things seem to be heading in the wrong direction as the Lakers have lost three of the last four games. Some players deal with an illness/injury and they all had to cope with different schedules and a trip to Texas. Head coach Darvin Ham had a big message for the team following the most recent loss to the New York Knicks. It was more like a warning.

Lakers players couldn’t handle Knicks guards Immanuel Quickley and Jalen Brunson. Are Lakers players really that tired at this point of the season? The Knicks had their road game for the fourth time in six nights and still managed to win the game.

“The fatigue that’s already setting in at this part of the season, throw in the travel with the change of the time zones, all of that,” Ham told the media in his postgame press conference. “Just means one thing. Nobody’s gonna feel sorry for you.”

Darvin Ham on tonight's Lakers shooting: "It's a game of runs. All the looks we got tonight, I'll take them every day of the week and twice on Sundays. You just got to continue being aggressive." pic.twitter.com/fYPWxBbe3r

— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) December 19, 2023

Players have to gear up for the upcoming stretch of games because they don’t really get a chance to rest before Christmas.

Lakers players motivated to win following the message Ham delivered

Ham is well aware of the fact that his team can make the NBA Finals this season. He knows that his players have great skills and also have the aggressiveness they need to win.

“I’m not one to use excuses,” Ham said. “The way we played was great during that time, we were whole. We had some unfortunate tweaks here and there, guys being out, unfortunate sickness or whatever. But we knew the games were interwoven and Las Vegas wasn’t a long flight for us. But it’s just obviously being within your normal schedule, it’s going to have an effect, be it positive or negative. I thought it was more positive than negative for sure.”