Will the Lakers fire Darvin Ham? LA ‘committed’ to head coach despite reports of locker room issues.

As the 2023–24 season approaches its halfway point, the Lakers, who won the inaugural In-Season Tournament title, have lost 11 of their previous 16 games and are currently 19–20. Head coach Darvin Ham’s seat seems to be getting somewhat warm as a result.

The Athletics’ Evan Buha and Shams Charania wrote on January 4 that “there’s currently a deepening disconnect between Darvin Ham and the Lakers locker room,” citing six people who are aware of the circumstances. Chris Haynes of TNT Sports, however, followed up on January 12 with a report stating that the Lakers “remain committed” to Ham.

Haynes claims that Ham has received assurances from Lakers president of basketball operations Rob Palinka and owner Jeanie Buss that his position is safe.

The contradicting claim raises the possibility that Ham might not be out of the picture too soon, despite the belief that six sources expressing a similar idea would mean disaster for his career as a bench warmer in Los Angeles.

Less than a day had passed after Los Angeles lost at home by 14 points against a Miami club without Jimmy Butler when Buha and Charania released their report. The confusing loss was the worst possible start to a series of games that would see the Lakers play nine of their next ten games in Los Angeles.

One week after Haynes’ story was published, LA ended a five-game homestand with an 18-point defeat to Phoenix on national television. After defeating the Heat, Grizzlies, and Suns in between victories over the Clippers and Raptors, the Lakers concluded their homestand with a 2-3 record.

The people who talked with Buha and Charania on the condition of anonymity claim that Ham’s drastic changes to Los Angeles’ starting lineup are the cause of the rift in the Lakers’ locker room.