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The Lakers have not had the best showing so far into this season. Compared to how they turned their season around in 2022-23, the team could sure use some of that to right this season's ship. \
Recently, NBA fan "@MaskedInLA" posted on X that the lineup that led the team from the 13th seed to a Western Conference Finals appearance last season has only played 1 minute together this season.
From the post, that starting five lineup comprised LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves, D'Angelo Russell and Jarred Vanderbilt. After starting with a questionable roster, which led to their poor start, they were able to string together a few wins, courtesy of their new pieces, to get them a spot in the play-in tournament and later secure the seventh seed in their conference.
Following this fan post on X, several NBA fans tweeted their frustration with Lakers coach Darvin Ham.
"Like how is Ham not fired yet? Lol smh."
Fans are not too pleased with Darvin Ham's rotations this season. From the past starting lineup, Austin Reaves and D'Angelo Russell are now moved to the second unit of the team for their struggles to start the season.
Replacing Reaves and Russell are Taurean Prince and Cam Reddish. This was done by Ham to better focus the ball handling and decision-making responsibilities on LeBron James while also having enough shooting and defensive presence alongside him.
Meanwhile, Ham has D'Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves running the bench unit to better maximize their shotmaking while also making sure that the ball distribution is still intact.
However, the team seems to still be struggling, leaving Lakers fans puzzled over Darvin Ham's decisions with rotations, especially those involving the successful lineup last season.
Lakers star LeBron James talked about the team's current situation
Speaking after Christmas Day's 126-115 loss to the Boston Celtics, Lakers forward LeBron James was honest about how the team looked amid all the struggles, as per ESPN's Dave McMenamin.
"I don't think we're healthy right now," James said. "I don't think we're where we want to be to compete vs the top teams until we continue to get better and better. Continue to work on habits. For us, we're still trying to figure our situation out as far as how we want to continue to attack each game."
From James' comments, he mentioned that the team's health situation has given them a disadvantage this season as Gabe Vincent remains out (will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his ailing left knee) and Jarred Vanderbilt is still working his way back after recovering from his heel injury.
It's still a process, as explained by Lebron James, whose team is currently sitting in ninth place in the Western Conference standings with a .516 winning percentage.
