The Los Angeles Lakers had a much better season than most people expected, all things considered.
They failed to keep that momentum going and were swept in the Western Conference Finals, but they looked like a legit championship contender for the most part of the second half of the season.
That was nearly unthinkable when they started off the season 2-10, and that’s why first-year coach Darvin Ham wasn’t so bummed out despite the loss.
Ham is optimistic about the future of his team and the organization.
“This is year one. Losing sucks, but I think we have an opportunity to do something special here also. We just got to build off this.” Darvin Ham on the 2022-23 #Lakers season. pic.twitter.com/VX5SUzMPt0
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) May 23, 2023
He knows that even though they failed to get the job done, they still exceeded expectations and are on the verge of contention with a couple of tweaks to the roster.
Of course, the biggest storyline of the season will be whether LeBron James wants to stay or not, as he hinted at potentially walking away from the game after the loss.
But as crazy as it may seem, this Lakers team could still make some noise even without James, although they would need a much more aggressive, efficient, and consistent Anthony Davis, and he may not have that in him at this point.
Roster issues aside, Ham developed a winning culture within the locker room and made things work with two different rosters, and he deserves plenty of credit for that.
His job shouldn’t be in jeopardy for the foreseeable future, and it’ll be interesting to see what Rob Pelinka does in the offseason with the many impending free agents he’ll have to deal with.
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Fans React To What LeBron Said About Possible Retirement
