The Los Angeles Lakers hired longtime Milwaukee Bucks assistant Darvin Ham to be the team’s next head coach this week.
Ham, who got the job after two prominent candidates before him passed, will now be tasked with fixing what Frank Vogel could not last season.
This week, an interesting report emerged regarding Magic Johnson’s preference for the next Lakers head coach.
Although he didn’t have a specific candidate, Johnson wanted the man taking over for Vogel to have one clear distinction.
“Magic Johnson told me earlier this week that he wanted the Lakers to hire an ex-player to be L.A.’s next coach,” reported NBA insider David Aldridge. “Seems like the decision-makers agreed. He’s been a great assistant to Mike Budenholzer in Atlanta [and] Milwaukee, and is more than ready for his first head coaching gig.”
Ham will need to fix a deeply dysfunctional Lakers group next year, but the front office could make things a bit easier for him by improving the roster.
Currently, four teams are willing to take Russell Westbrook off L.A.’s hands. That should be priority one for all parties involved.
From there, getting any one of the three players on their offseason wish list would be a great move as well.
Finally, getting Anthony Davis right should be on the agenda. Him being healthy in his first Los Angeles season was the reason they won a title. Him missing half of the team’s outings over the next two years is why they’ve struggled. His wellness is paramount.
Recent photos of Davis show him looking extremely skinny. The Lakers should address that.
Now that’s how you do a beach day. https://t.co/RmtAQImLFs
— Game 7 (@game7__) May 29, 2022
Ham has a lot of work to do. Ditto for Lakers management.
Will all parties involved be able to get this franchise back on track in 2022-23?
Time will tell.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
