Lakers Rumors: HC Darvin Ham Expected to Be Fired 'Likely by the End of the Week'

The Los Angeles Lakers are reportedly expected to fire coach Darvin Ham as soon as Thursday.

Jovan Buha of The Athletic said the Lakers' "plan" is to have an announcement "likely by the end of the week."

"The latest I've heard is the plan is still to move on from Darvin [Ham] at some point, likely by the end of the week—potentially as early as tomorrow—then the head coaching search will start," Buha said on The Athletic NBA Show (15:35 mark). "I've already started to hear some names from different people."

Ham has gone 90-74 in his two seasons as Lakers coach. It's possible he would have been fired after the 2022-23 campaign if it weren't for a surprising run to the Western Conference Finals.

Shams Charania, Buha and Sam Amick reported "frustration" grew in the Lakers locker room with Ham's coaching decisions as this season wore on. Opposing players even picked up on the annoyance. Asked about criticism after the Denver Nuggets eliminated the Lakers in the first round, Ham seemed to scoff at taking blame and instead pointed the finger at injuries and player performance.

"It's been extremely challenging," Ham said, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. "Everyone that's been in and out of the lineup. Being criticized for not having a consistent rotation when I don't have consistent healthy bodies. The thing that frustrates me, and I love this job, I love the pressure that comes with it, I've always been calm in the midst of chaos ... [But] common sense tends to go out the window when you talk about my job in particular.

"It's amazing how people just skip that core part of having a consistency with your lineup is all predicated on health and performance. If you're coaching a team and one of your starters is like 10 games in a row, just s--tting the bed, what are you going to do?"

While injuries are a legitimate excuse in some cases, it's hard to see an argument in Ham's favor. LeBron James played 71 games, his most in a Lakers uniform. Anthony Davis was on the floor for 76 games, the most in his entire career.

Rotation players Cam Reddish, Jarred Vanderbilt and Gabe Vincent missed time due to injuries, but that's nowhere near a good enough excuse to have a team with James and Davis exiting in the first round.

It would be fairer to argue Ham's underwhelming coaching performance wasted what could be the final healthy year of James and Davis as a tandem.