The Los Angeles Lakers appear to be desperate to remain relevant and are arguably looking to take a significant amount of attention away from the ongoing 2024 NBA Finals. As most fans who have been following the playoffs this season will know, the Lakers ended up being eliminated from the first round of the Western Conference playoffs by the Denver Nuggets.
While there is no shame in losing to the reigning NBA champions, the Lakers did not go quietly into their offseason like the other 7 teams that failed to make it past the first round of the playoffs. Since fans who have not been following basketball news may not be well informed on the Lakers’ activities, let us take a better look and find out more.
The Los Angeles Lakers fired Darvin Ham with no replacement on standby
Almost immediately after the Lakers were defeated once again by the Denver Nuggets, reports soon emerged revealing that the team had decided to remove Darvin Ham from his position as head coach. While there is nothing wrong with making personnel decisions and changes, the timing is slightly suspicious.
Even if the Lakers already had plans to remove Ham from his position, there was nothing to gain by doing so when the playoffs were still going on. After all, the offseason is around 4 months long and is more than enough time for them to make changes.
Under the assumption that the Lakers had no intention of wasting time, they should have had a suitable replacement lined up after firing Ham. They clearly did not and their attempts to look for a new coach have several reports gaining traction on social media. From former NBA stars to college basketball coaches, it appears that the Lakers are not making moves discretely.All of this would lead fans to believe that the team is trying to seize the limelight in any way possible and inadvertently taking away attention from the NBA Finals. Although there could be some reasonable explanation for their decisions, this is not the first time that the team has engaged in such antics.
LeBron James and the Lakers did something similar last season
Fans will know that the Lakers made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals last season. However, they ended up getting swept by the Denver Nuggets. Being one of the last 4 teams remaining but falling short of winning an NBA title led to LeBron James contemplating his retirement after his team’s season had come to an end.
Notions that LeBron James could potentially retire soon gained traction on social media and ended up taking away some of the attention that the Nuggets rightly deserved. In any case, basketball fans are hoping that the reports on the Lakers’ hunt for a new coach reduce so that their focus can rightly return to the 2024 NBA Finals.