'We are aligned': LA Lakers HC Darvin Ham breaks silence on lack of job security with 3-word response, citing support of 'boss lady' Jeanie Buss 

Embattled LA Lakers head coach Darvin Ham said he still feels secure about his position, notwithstanding the struggles his team is having, citing the “support” he has been getting from the organization’s top brass.

The second-year Lakers coach broke his silence surrounding his tenure as they go through a rough patch in the ongoing NBA season, where speculation about him and the players having a “disconnect” is being floated around.

Speaking ahead of their scheduled game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday, the player-turned-coach shared that he understands that such talk comes with the job he signed up for, but underscored that he still has the confidence of his bosses and will just continue doing the task given to him.

Darvin Ham said (via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin):

“It comes with the territory. I’m solid. My governor, Jeanie Buss, the boss lady, our president, Robert Pelinka, we’re all aligned. As long as they are not saying, I guess, I’m good, which I know, how they feel about me regarding the situation we’re in right now. We’re all on the same page.”

After winning the first-ever NBA In-Season Tournament in early December, the Lakers have struggled to get wins.

In their next 12 games, the Purple and Gold have gone 3-9.

Darvin Ham’s abilities as a coach are being spotlighted of late as he has been unable to craft a tack to support the steady plays of All-Stars Anthony Davis (25.2 ppg, 12.5 rpg and 2.7 bpg) and LeBron James (25 ppg, 7.4 apg, 7.3 rpg and 1.4 spg).

The champion assistant coach (Milwaukee Bucks, 2021) joined the Lakers last season, replacing Frank Vogel and leading the team to the Western Conference finals.

Darvin Ham says health is a concern for Lakers amid struggles

While not making injuries a primary excuse for their struggles, LA Lakers coach Darvin Ham did admit players missing time for injuries has affected their ability to consistently win.

Following a promising start to the ongoing NBA season where they went 14-9 in their first 23 games, while also claiming the first-ever NBA In-Season Tournament title, the Lakers have gone 3-9 for a below .500 record at 17-18 heading into their game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday.

Darvin Ham spoke about their struggles, telling the media, as per the Lakers Nation site:

“We can’t find any consistency until we get healthy. It’s as simple as that. I mean, we got to get healthy. We got to get healthy … We 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."

He added:

“That’s just being real. There’s no slight on anybody. We pride ourselves on making sure we don’t send our guys out there to expose themselves to any major type of injury that’s what we stand on. But having said that, we got to get guys healthy."

While All-Stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis have kept themselves available for much of the time so far, rotation players like Gabe Vincent, Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbilt and Cam Reddish have been unavailable for the LA Lakers at various points.