Now that they have a new coach, the Lakers must hope that the latter can transpose his ideas on the field. However, the lucky winner has a favorite tactic that would not be ideal for LeBron James… enough to complicate things from the outset?
Assistant coach with the Bucks for some time, Darvin Ham has now moved to the next level. It was on the side of the Lakers that he was promoted, he who knows the house for having worked there in the early 2010s. In order to give him maximum comfort, the franchise has also made him quite an unusual big concession for her. The 2004 champion will therefore have all the freedom in the world to set up the game he wishes.
As a result, he will be able to have fun using his favorite tactics. We can notably cite the system in his name, the “Hammer”: to put it simply, it is a question of attacking the circle from the baseline, in order to attract defenders and bring out the ball for an open shot. It works very well when you have snipers, but the Angelinos still lack it a bit. In addition, as the site explains Basketball Networkit will not necessarily be to the taste of LeBron James :
Potential tactical differences between LeBron and Darvin Ham?
It might be a bit too early to tell, but on the face of it James might not benefit from Ham’s famous game. First of all, even though he’s improved as a shooter, you don’t want LeBron standing around waiting for the ball. If he has the ball, that means LeBron has to pass in to someone waiting on the baseline or high post like Ham does in the “Hammer” system.
It’s no secret that the King tends to take precedence over everything tactically. Incredibly gifted with the ball in hand and capable of coming out of systems himself out of nowhere, the winger is sometimes seen as a player-coach. This has also often been an argument used to mock his coaches… However, he has shown with four titles that the formula works, and not sure that he wants to adapt so much when he is now 37 years old.
Therefore, we have reason to worry about the new leader of the Pourpres et Ors, given that the word of the Chosen One is almost law at the Crypto.com Arena. We can also think of David Blatt, fired from the Cavs in 2016 because he did not get along with him… However, Basketball Network wants to be reassuring on this subject, affirming that the coach will be able to make compromises. It would also be an opportunity to revive a very disappointing star for his LA debut:
Chances are the new Lakers coach will make some changes to his game plans so he can inject James into it. Or who knows, Ham might even innovate it depending on James’ style of play. It could at least be one of the games supposed to boost the efficiency of Russell Westbrook – a major talking point for all Lakers coaching candidates.
Darvin Ham’s tactical preferences do not necessarily match those of LeBron James, but the two men will have to find a solution. The Lakers’ success in 2022-23 depends in part on their relationship on and off the court.
