"Seat warming has started": Lakers beat reporter claims Darvin Ham is in the hot seat amid slump to below .500

The LA Lakers slumped below .500 following their blowout 110-96 loss to the Miami Heat, which saw the focus shift toward head coach Darvin Ham. The defeat to the Heat, who were without Jimmy Butler, trounced a unit that had both LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

Postgame, the frustrations were visible, with James leaving without talking to the reporters. The Athletic's Jovan Buha wrote that Ham is in rocky waters as LA prepares for a tough home stretch:

"The seat warming has started."

The Lakers haven't been the same clinical unit they were since winning the IST. They are 3-9 on resuming the regular season, and the struggles have been laid bare.

While injuries have played their part, the team is far from being a collective side. On his part, Ham used injuries as a key factor affecting his preferred lineup.

“We’ve got to get healthy. And once you get healthy, guys got to get back into rhythm, and we’ve got to find a cohesive unit, a total cohesive rotation that we can go with.

"When you’re dealing with different guys being in and out of the lineup that frequently, it’s damn-near impossible to find a rhythm. That’s just being real. That’s no slight on anybody.”

Due to injuries, Ham deployed his tenth starting lineup this season. With D'Angelo Russell on the injury list, Austin Reaves took point. Taurean Prince played shooting guard.

Cam Reddish was the small forward. James came in at four, while Davis was center. With Prince and Reddish having off nights from beyond the arc, LA struggled offensively.

Ham and the Lakers don't have a lot of time to turn things around, and the home stretch will decide how they will likely end their regular season.

---

Darvin Ham and the Lakers have faced adversity before

Darvin Ham did not have the greatest of starts when he started as the coach of the LA Lakers last season. They started 0-5 and went 2-10.

Russell Westbrook was in his second tumultuous year with his hometown team, and the outfit looked ready for another abysmal season. However, what Ham brought to the table was grit and resilience to a team that went all the way to the Conference Finals.

This Lakers team has seen their share of adversity with Ham steering them to better days. So while there are reports that the vibe in the team is off, they will only have one way to come out of that shell, and that's by winning.

Much depends on how Ham, James and Davis work together in the days to come. If they can figure things out, expect LA to be back to winning ways. For now, it's all wait and watch, though.