Pete and I start by discussing an interesting development in the LeBron James, Anthony Davis combination, then take you through all our biggest thoughts and takeaways from last night's win.
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LOCKED ON LAKERS -- 11/20 -- Lakers sit 10 games above .500, with NBA's best record. Holy.

Locked On Lakers podcast is your daily ticket to stay ahead of the game and the first to know the latest news, analysis, and insider info for the Los Angeles Lakers and the NBA. Hosts Andy and Brian Kamenetzky, who have covered the Purple and Gold since 2005 for media outlets including the LA Times, ESPN and The Athletic, offer traditional journalism, informal commentary, and offbeat humor to provide expert, local analysis. Locked On Lakers takes you beyond the scoreboard for the inside scoops on the biggest stories from within the Lakers locker room and all over the NBA. The Locked On Lakers podcast is part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your Team. Every Day.

Sports

Basketball

The inevitable just became reality. On Friday, the Lakers announced that Darvin Ham has been relieved of his duties as head coach of the Lakers. It's no surprise that Ham is out because all signs pointed in this direction, but it's actually pretty shocking that Ham, after doing such a good job building buy-in as a rookie coach with LeBron James, Anthony Davis, D'Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura, saw it all go to pot during his second year. Increasingly, Ham found his decisions being questioned by players, to say nothing of fans and, reportedly, the front office, and kept refusing to take public accountability for whatever struggles. You can't do that in a season that didn't live up to expectations, which explains in part why Ham is out.Still, nobody can honestly say ALL of the problems were the coach. The roster isn't perfect, even if the oodles of supporting players who were injured stayed healthy. LeBron requires season-long maintenance. And there aren't many obvious choices to replace Ham. Lot of pressure on Rob Pelinka to get this right. We shall see what comes next. 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: The Lakers haven't canned Ham yet. Why? 

SEGMENT 2: What should the Lakers be doing with this time? 

SEGMENT 3: Is Pelinka escaping criticism? 



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The Lakers Fire Darvin Ham! What Comes Next? Who Could Replace Him?

WHAT'S TAKING SO LONG? 

While not exactly the sentiment of every Lakers fan... it's the sentiment of many when it comes to the expected dismissal of Darvin Ham from his gig with the Lakers. After all, reports following LA's Game 5 loss to the Nuggets earlier in the week suggested Ham's job was all but gone. Subsequent reports say the Lakers are still moving down that path, potentially as early as the end of the week. Which, to be clear, is basically today. So if they know they want to do it, and are continuing to leak that they're going to do it... why haven't they done it? 

Well, one  reason might be the fallout from the last time they fired a coach. You may remember the Lakers received some flak, and lost out on opportunities to interview desired candidates, after they leaked that Frank Vogel was out and it was reported basically at the buzzer of their final game, before Frank Vogel even reached the podium. So, hey, don't do that again! But is this way any better, whether to be respectful to Ham or to burnish the team's reputation? 

What could they be doing, beyond PR and news cycle management? Certainly the Lakers ought to be doing due diligence, making sure they like potential candidates out there more than they like the idea of trying to make it work with Ham. After all, the guy did have a reasonably promising first season before things went south this year, and isn't far off from being one of the more sought after head coaching candidates out there. 

Maybe they're double checking with all the critical stakeholders not only about whether they're ok with Darvin going, but also what type of coach would make sense to replace him, and whether that hypothetical coach would be available. So maybe all of these things are happening, but if the Lakers have their minds made up, they ought to get it done sooner rather than later. 

Meanwhile, is all of this attention on Ham fair? Some hoops minds think he's getting too much criticism for how the team's season turned out. And does all of this distract from criticism Rob Pelinka should be getting? 



HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: The Lakers haven't canned Ham yet. Why? 

SEGMENT 2: What should the Lakers be doing with this time? 

SEGMENT 3: Is Pelinka escaping criticism? 



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Lakers Fans Want Darvin Ham Fired... Now. Barkley Says Blame Players and Rob Pelinka, not Ham.

The immediate business ahead of the Lakers is deciding, or perhaps just finding the right time to announce, the future of Darvin Ham. 

But while everyone waits on that—and the Lakers did in fact conduct exit interviews internally (and away from probing questions from media types)—one could certainly assume that major stakeholders were asked not just about Darvin, but more importantly what worked and what didn't this year, and what kind of coach they'd like to see next season. 

That would include, at least in theory, LeBron James, whose own future in Los Angeles isn't exactly an open question, but isn't solidified, either. He is expected to opt out of his deal, and while a return to LA is what most expect and is unquestionably the most likely outcome, the contours of that future are very much unknown. Will LeBron demand three years at the max? A full no-trade clause? 

Is there anything, really, he could ask for that the Lakers wouldn't give? After all, both parties are pretty much tied to each other, assuming LeBron wants to play on a competitive team in a city he likes and get paid what he feels he's worth. The Lakers, meanwhile, can't replace James with comparable talent, so it's either sign him to a deal he likes or blow up the roster and start over. 

They're not going to do that. 

Still, the parameters of the relationship might look a little different than anyone expected, because it's worth wondering if anyone thought it would last this long. We've all been having the Father Time conversation for a while now, and LeBron is still chugging along at an elite level. Is he the best player in the game? No, but is he still in that highest echelon? Yeah, probably. It's fair to ask, and LeBron seems to be doing just that, whether his body will be the thing that forces him to quit, as it is with most athletes. Instead, his will to play could be the first thing that goes. 

Plus, the whole Bronny conversation has radically shifted, following the younger James' challenging year at USC. 



HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: What does the future hold for LeBron?

SEGMENT 2: Did anyone expect to be here? 

SEGMENT 3: How the evolving Bronny situation impacts LBJ's decision. 



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What's Next for the Lakers and LeBron James? Is Playing with Bronny Still a Factor?

The Lakers have a lot of decisions to make this offseason, but without question the highest profile choice is about Darvin Ham. Does LA fire him, as is the broad expectation based on multiple reports? 

If so, why? 

For starters, you can look to a few recent quotes, some from after Monday's loss and more in a story published by ESPN following the game. In both, Ham defended himself against accusations of mismanagement in areas like lineups and rotations, focusing on injuries that ruined his ability to be consistent. He defended himself against high profile benchings over the course of the season by asking what you're supposed to do if a player is "sh***ing the bed" for 10 games in a row? Given that the only three guys this really applies to are Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and D'Angelo Russell, three of the team's five best players, you can forgive any of them for thinking the coach was publicly, well, pooping on their performance. 

And while there some truth to what he's arguing, none of these statements were accompanied by any sense of accountability. The poor performance is the responsibility of fate, or players who aren't up to par, or a media that doesn't get it. Never about him and the staff, even if just to deal with the relationship management aspect of the job (which, it should be said, is probably the most important aspect of being an NBA head coach). 

Still, the Lakers are reportedly engaging in a "post-mortem" to figure out what they want to do. On the surface, the results would seem self-evident: Ham has to go. But if he's fired, he needs to be replaced, which means the Lakers need to know who they want, and more importantly, why. What kind of coach are they looking for. Would yet another first-time head coach be a viable option? Is there a scenario where it makes more sense to try and repair a dynamic with a coach that a year ago seemed much more promising? One good year, one bad for a guy who was extremely well-regarded when the Lakers made the hire? 

What would "repair" over "replace" entail? 



HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky



SEGMENT 1: Darvin Ham sounds like a man with many excuses. 

SEGMENT 2: What do the Lakers want in a head coach? 

SEGMENT 3: Is there a scenario where it makes more sense to keep Darvin? 



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Will the Lakers Fire Darvin Ham? Multiple Reports Say the Coach is on the Hot Seat.

When those who defend the Lakers talk about how the distance between them and the best teams in the league isn't necessarily that big, Monday's Game 5 loss to the Nuggets, eliminating the Lakers from the postseason, is what they're talking about. 

Jamal Murray, once again, was the catalyst. He scores Denver's final five points, and they beat LA 108-106. 

This was a fantastic game, with huge punches thrown by both teams, and massive emotional swings. Both teams were banged up. There were significant injuries during the game, to Anthony Davis first and foremost (a shoulder that functionally removed him from LA's offense for the last 18 minutes or so), but also Murray, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and for a moment, at least, LeBron. The Lakers lost this game on the margins in many ways - untimely offensive rebounds given up, open shots that needed to go down - and spots that aren't exactly marginal, like nine missed free throws. 

The Lakers went down swinging, but they went down. Really, the issue wasn't that they lost this game, but that they lost Game 2. Or the opportunity to win Game 1, or Game 3. 

So now the Lakers have a ton of questions to ask. About Darvin Ham, most importantly. But about the roster, as well. What happens if/when LeBron James and D'Angelo Russell opt out? Do the Lakers package guys in a trade for another star? Which one? Can the Lakers make significant improvements to the supporting cast? Do they run it back and try to continue developing the continuity that has served a team like Denver so well? 

Is Rob Pelinka the right guy to be orchestrating all of this? 

It's going to be a VERY interesting offseason... 



HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky



SEGMENT 1: The Lakers lose a heartbreaker. 

SEGMENT 2: Who gets blamed for Game 5? A lot of fingers are pointing to Ham, as usual. 

SEGMENT 3: What to make of the series.  



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LOCKED ON LAKERS -- 11/20 -- Lakers sit 10 games above .500, with NBA's best record. Holy.

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