Category: Los Angeles Lakers

 

 

Darvin Ham of the Los Angeles Lakers directs his team against the Denver Nuggets in the first quarter during game five of the Western Conference First Round Playoffs

Darvin Ham might be working for the Milwaukee Bucks now, but there’s no doubt that his feelings toward the Lakers aren’t yet all warm and fuzzy. Even after landing back on the bench alongside Doc Rivers in Milwaukee, Ham’s recent actions and words suggest he still hasn’t forgotten how things ended in Los Angeles.

 

Doc Rivers Lets It Slip

Ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks’ 118-89 win over the Lakers, Doc Rivers said the quiet part out loud. Asked by reporters if Ham viewed the contest as a revenge game, Rivers responded, “(Darvin) wants to kick the Lakers’ ass.” While Rivers was joking, it’s not hard to imagine Ham making that statement.

 

It’s not every day an assistant coach’s motivation becomes a storyline, but when it involves a coach returning to face the team that fired him? Fans take notice. Especially when one of those teams is the Los Angeles Lakers.

 

Ham’s time in Los Angeles was, by most measures, solid. He guided the Lakers to a 90-74 regular season record and even took them to the Western Conference Finals in 2022. He also won the inaugural NBA Cup in 2023. Yet despite the results and his ability to manage a high-pressure roster headlined by LeBron James and Anthony Davis, Ham was shown the door after just two seasons.

 

At the time, Ham said he was “disappointed” in the Lakers’ decision.

 

The quick trigger left many puzzled. In a city like LA, expectations are always high, but many felt Ham deserved more time. Though Cem Yolbulan of LA Sports Hub believes that the Lakers are thriving without Ham on the sidelines.

 

“The Lakers are currently 11th in the league in defensive rating,” he writes. “A number higher than both Ham’s seasons with the team. Plus, they are doing this without Anthony Davis or an elite defensive anchor for a significant portion of the season.”

 

Circling the Date

For Ham, it’s not just about strategy—it’s about pride. He’s not just trying to help the Bucks win; he’s trying to send a message to the team that let him go.

 

“I’m not talking about feelings. I’m talking actual facts,” Ham said. “They go from not making it to the playoffs to the final four in the NBA, the conference finals. And then you win the in-season tournament, navigate through all the injuries and win both of your play-in games to get to the playoffs.”

 

A Competitive Edge That Lingers

Competitive fire is part of what made Ham an NBA coach in the first place. But there’s a difference between staying competitive and taking things personally. In Ham’s case, the line seems blurred.

 

Coaches often say it’s “just business,” but behind closed doors, these firings sting. Especially, after taking a team deep into the playoffs, only to have that success seemingly overlooked.

 

Ham has brought renewed energy to Milwaukee—a sign that perhaps he’s channeling any lingering bitterness into his new role.

 

The NBA thrives on rivalries and personal storylines, and Darvin Ham’s situation is another great example. Every time the Bucks and Lakers face off, eyes will watch Ham just as much as the players.

 

While he may not publicly admit he’s still bitter, his actions—and Rivers’ comments—speak volumes. Whether it’s about proving himself or the Lakers wrong, Darvin Ham isn’t done yet.

 

 

 

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) and guard Luka Doncic (77) react after a play during the first quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Crypto.com Arena.

Mandatory Credit: Jason Parkhurst-

The Lakers will be healthy again for their upcoming game against the Chicago Bulls.

 

The Los Angeles Lakers have been decimated by injuries over the past few weeks, but they got some good news on Friday regarding the availability of their top players. According to the latest injury report (via Jovan Buha) the Lakers are getting healthier and could be whole for their next home game against the Bulls on Saturday.

 

Luka Doncic, Dorian Finney-Smith, Austin Reaves, and Jarred Vanderbilt are listed as probable.

 

Rui Hachimura, LeBron James, and Gabe Vincent are questionable.

 

The only player listed as out right now is Maxi Kleber, who has yet to make his Lakers debut.

 

Players have been in and out of the lineup for head coach JJ Redick and he’s been doing his best to make the most of it. Fortunately, he’ll get some reinforcements this weekend that should set the team back on the right track.

 

Against the Bucks on Thursday, the Lakers were a shell of themselves. They were down six rotation players, including four starters and their three leading scorers in the blowout loss.

 

Fortunately, the Lakers are finally getting healthy and it’s not a second too soon. At fourth in the standings (43-26), the Lakers are currently in a heated battle in the West standings and they need all the help they can get.

 

The most important piece to this is LeBron James. He left the Celtics game early on March 8 and hasn’t been seen since. The groin injury has taken two weeks to recover but after returning to LA for treatment, LeBron is set to make his return tomorrow. He’s averaging 25.0 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 8.5 assists per game on 51.7% shooting this season.

 

Luka Doncic has been mostly healthy for the Lakers but he did take the last game off to help with his recovery from a sprained right ankle. As the team’s leading scorer and playmaker, his return will be huge for the Lakers and now he can continue to build chemistry with LeBron James.

 

Reaves was listed as out with an ankle injury but the real reason he missed the game was likely due to the team’s ridiculous schedule, which involved six games in eight nights.

 

Rui Hachimura has been out for the past 12 games with left patellar tendinopathy. He was playing some of the best basketball of his career before going down, with averages of 13.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game on 50.6% shooting.

 

Now that the most brutal part of their schedule is over, the Lakers are ready to lock in for the final stretch of the season but the road ahead is anything but easy.

 

As the Thunder and Rockets lead the West, LA will need to be at full strength to keep up. If LeBron James, Austin Reaves, and Luka Doncic are healthy, however, the Lakers have a chance to beat any team in their way.

 

 

 

 

It’s been over a month since the Los Angeles Lakers shocked the NBA world by trading 10-time All-Star Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Luka Doncic.

The blockbuster move marked the end of a five-year partnership between Davis and LeBron James, a duo that led the Lakers to an NBA championship in 2020 but was ultimately hindered by injuries.

 

Although Davis is no longer in LA, his bond with James appears to remain strong, as evidenced by their interactions when the Lakers faced the Mavericks on Feb. 25.

 

As Davis continues to recover from an injury, he sat down for an interview with Mavs TV. The new Mavericks star revealed a moment he and James shared during their time together.

 

Los Angeles Lakers forwards LeBron James (23) and Anthony Davis (3)

Los Angeles Lakers forwards LeBron James (23) and Anthony Davis  Mark J.

Davis revealed that James offered him the No. 23 jersey—the same number Davis wore during his time with the New Orleans Pelicans—when he first arrived in LA. However, Davis chose instead to forge a new path with No. 3. It was a big decision for the star forward, as the number he chose could now end up being retired one day by the organization.

 

“When I got to LA, Bron wanted to give me the 23, but I was like, ‘I don’t want to take your number,’” Davis said.

 

Davis added, “Then that second year, he went to 6 and he asked me if I wanted 23. And I was like, ‘I actually want to stay with 3. I want to go back to where it all started.’”

 

Davis made his debut for the Mavericks in a 116-105 win over the Houston Rockets, and he was on track for a historic performance before suffering an adductor strain early in the third quarter. A month has passed, and the Mavericks are still without their star big man, while Doncic continues to thrive in LA.

 

With no official timeline for Davis’ return, Dallas faces an uphill battle in the Western Conference playoff race. The Mavericks currently sit in 10th place, and with Kyrie Irving officially out for the season due to a torn ACL and starting center Daniel Gafford set to miss some extended time, Davis returning sooner rather than later may be their only hope of making a playoff push.

 

 

 

 

The Los Angeles Lakers will be without LeBron James for one to two weeks after the NBA’s all-time leading scorer suffered a groin injury in Saturday’s tough loss to the Boston Celtics.

 

Not only did the defending champs snap L.A.’s eight-game winning streak with a 111-101 victory at TD Garden, but the fact that James will now be sidelined for an extended period is even more bad news for the Lakers.

 

Unfortunately for L.A. fans, there’s more. Luka Doncic, who is expected to step up in a major way amid LeBron’s absence, is now also dealing with what appears to be a new issue.

 

The Lakers have already released their injury report for Monday’s contest against the Brooklyn Nets, and the bad news is that Doncic is also in danger of missing that one. This is after the 26-year-old guard was listed as questionable to play against the Nets due to a sore back.

 

 

While James’ injury is a tough break for the Lakers, his absence will be an opportunity for Doncic to show what he can do for his new team without LeBron on the floor. Unfortunately, he is now dealing with a back problem that could bother him even if he ends up playing through the injury on Monday.

 

It is also worth noting that Doncic has also been nursing calf, hip and knee issues over the past week or so, and it is clear that he is not a hundred percent healthy. Either way, the Lakers will be relying on him heavily in the next week or two with James sidelined. That is, of course, under the assumption that Doncic is able to suit up.

 

Jaxson Hayes is also questionable to play for the Lakers on Monday, while Rui Hachimura, Dorian Finney-Smith and Maxi Kleber are all listed as out.

 

 

 

Lakers could acquire $74 million former 22.0 PPG Spurs scorer to support LeBron James image

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) scores a basket during the second half against Portland Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija (8) and guard Anfernee Simons (1) at Moda Center.

 

The Los Angeles Lakers captured consecutive victory No. 6 on Sunday night, defeating the Los Angeles Clippers by a score of 108-102 to improve their record to 38-21 and jump all the way up to the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference.

 

Though the team looks to be rolling at the perfect time, it’s hard not to wonder what their general manager Rob Pelinka could have planned for this coming offseason regardless of if the Lakers raise yet another championship trophy come season’s end.

 

In order to improve the team’s depth around Luka Dončić and LeBron James while increasing their offensive intensity, it’s plausible that Pelinka could inquire about completing a trade for a young, athletic forward from the San Antonio Spurs, Keldon Johnson.

 

At just 25 years old, the 6-foot-5 small forward has proven that he can become a star-level scorer in the Association if given the right amount of time to shine, once posting averages of 22.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists for the Spurs in 2022-23 in his age-23 season.

 

Unfortunately, Johnson has seen a massive decrease in his role with the team since his break-out campaign, playing just 23.5 minutes this season compared to 32.7 minutes just two years ago.

 

The former No. 29 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft’s production has dropped as a result of his lessened playing time, as he’s now contributing just 12.1 points and 4.5 rebounds with a 53.7% effective field goal percentage in 56 appearances.

 

Pelinka may realize that Johnson’s potential could truly be unlocked as a prospective member of the Lakers, as both generational passing talents Dončić and James could set him up for fantastic looks in 2025-26.

 

The Lakers could also buy relatively low for Johnson, possibly offering to give away only the contracts of Jarred Vanderbilt and Gabe Vincent along with a first-round pick to receive the Spurs’ versatile wing.

 

What may make the hypothetical acquisition a deal-breaker in Pelinka’s mind is Johnson’s descending contract, as his salary will decrease from $19 million this season to $17.5 million for the next two years afterwards until he hits unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2027.

 

Los Angeles has come to develop an affinity for solid wing talents, and Johnson’s possible pairing with Dončić and James could be exactly what the team needs, aside from center depth, to compete for titles in the present and post-James era.

 

 

Seattle and Las Vegas have long been rumored as new NBA expansion cities.

 

But with men’s professional basketball struggling to connect with a frustrated American audience, one of the most forward-thinking owners in pro sports is envisioning an even bigger picture for the league.

 

 

LeBron James could be retired by the time the NBA makes a huge expansion move

LeBron James could be retired by the time the NBA makes a huge expansion moveCredit:

“I think what you’re going to see is more and more professional sports, like the NBA, come to Europe,” Chelsea and Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly said at the Financial Times Business of Football Summit in London.

 

While Boehly is primarily focused on getting Chelsea back into the Champions League and ushering the Dodgers to another World Series trophy, he’s also a part-owner of a Los Angeles Lakers team that features LeBron James and Luka Doncic.

 

Boehly’s expansive sports portfolio provides him with a unique global view of the athletic world.

 

 

He’s a 51-year-old from Connecticut with an estimated net worth of $8.5 billion.

 

 

The 30-team league has long wanted to place a team back in Seattle — the SuperSonics moved to Oklahoma City in 2008 — and eyes Las Vegas as an ideal new destination city.

 

But there have also been recent hints that the NBA hopes to follow the NFL’s lead and expand its reach overseas.

 

Boehly has a big vision of where the NBA could go nextCredit: Financial Times Business of Football Summit

He’s also keeping a close eye on Luka Doncic’s new team

 

Boehly, far right, has a unique view of global sports and ties to several team

Rising star Victor Wembanyama was showcased with regular-season games in Paris earlier this year, before a stunning injury placed the San Antonio Spurs sophomore on the shelf.

 

The NBA could play future regular-season games in Manchester.

 

But Boehly is thinking much bigger than just a couple midseason contests in an overseas country.

 

“I think the NBA is going to be a really interesting thing to watch over the next 20 years,” said Boehly, while discussing the difference dealing with European football and American sports agents.

 

 

“Because I think the NBA is going to become much more global, right? And then I think you’re going to see kind of the evolution of that agent market, as the NBA really becomes global.”

 

Nashville, Vancouver, Kansas City, Mexico City and Montreal have also received interest as potential NBA expansion cities.

 

But Boehly made it clear that the biggest move for the NBA could be across the pond and beyond.

 

“I think it’s going to be a fascinating thing to observe,” he said.

 

The Chelsea co-owner also keeps an eye on college football, which continues to become more pro-like, and has effectively become a minor-league talent pipeline for the NFL.

 

 

“The other thing we have now in America, which is just a whole new wild wild west, is what’s going on in college football and college sports generally,” Boehly said.

 

“The players are now professional athletes, right? So what’s happened?

 

“Michigan, I believe, they compensated their quarterback with 10 million dollars to play at Michigan. And so this NIL money is changing the landscape of sports. And what it’s really doing is getting more and more sports infrastructure to be built around America.

 

Chelsea owner Todd Boehly wants radical Premier League overhaul based on $600 billion NFL-Netflix model

“So we’re seeing this massive development of sports infrastructure and you’re seeing kind of teams that are elite teams forming at younger and younger ages.

 

 

“Because in America, now high school is really the new college, and college is professional, and people are going to stick around in college longer.”

 

The NFL will bounce from Brazil and Ireland to Australia and the United Kingdom as it attempts to remain ahead of the global sports race in the streaming age.

 

The Premier League, thus far, has avoided the temptation of playing regular-season matches in the United States, only giving the USA summer exhibitions.

 

 

 

 

 

The Los Angeles Lakers grabbed a 108-102 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday night, thanks to a dominant 29-point performance by Luka Doncic.

 

With the win, the Lakers improved to 38-21 as the Clippers fell to 32-28, with LeBron James adding 17 points.

 

In addition to Doncic’s 29 points, he added six rebounds and nine assists while shooting 5-of-12 from behind the three-point line in the victory. James added five rebounds and nine assists on 6-of-17 shooting. Dalton Knecht had a standout night off the bench, contributing 19 points and two assists on 7-of-10 shooting

 

 

On the other side of the court, Kawhi Leonard posted 33 points and 10 rebounds and James Harden added 13 points and eight assists.

 

Fans were impressed by Doncic, James and Knecht as they stepped up to help the Lakers grab a win over the Clippers. Their combined efforts were crucial in securing the victory and extending the Lakers’ strong run.

 

The Lakers kicked off scoring behind a Dorian Finney-Smith three-pointer off a James assist. Doncic quickly found his groove, scoring eight points in just over two minutes in the first quarter as the Lakers took a 34-28 lead into the second quarter.

 

Late in the first quarter, Doncic went to the locker room after appearing to injure his right hip, having scored 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting. He returned to the bench just 10 minutes later.

 

Knecht jump-started the Lakers in the second quarter, knocking down a long step-back three-pointer that was quickly followed by another to collect six quick points. After holding the Clippers to just 15 points in the second quarter, the Lakers took a 56-43 lead into halftime.

 

Out of halftime, Leonard scored back-to-back buckets for the Clippers as they started the half with a 4-0 run. James and Doncic took turns exchanging buckets, scoring six straight points for the Lakers as they entered the fourth quarter with a 12-point lead.

 

Despite being outscored 25-19 in the fourth, the Lakers avoided a costly defensive goaltending call that was ruled a clean block after review and the Lakers pulled off the victory against their in-town rivals.

 

The Lakers will look to grab their seventh straight win against the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday at home.

 

 

The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Denver Nuggets on Saturday night, and Luka Doncic finally gave them a vintage Luka performance.

He finished with 32 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists, and 4 steals.

Given that the two teams play in Los Angeles on Tuesday, it was noteworthy that he had his first significant performance since being traded away from the Dallas Maverick.

Building an on-court relationship with LeBron James, who is still putting up ridiculous numbers at forty, is a part of being a Lakers player. LeBron, however, thinks the fit is rather natural.

“It fits perfectly because I’m a natural wide receiver and he’s a natural quarterback,” James remarked following Saturday’s victory.

“He’s been making fantastic passes for the majority of his life, and I’ve been running the floor and lanes for the most of mine. When it comes to it, finding a rhythm is easy.

It all comes down to making eye contact, him being the excellent quarterback that he is, and me receiving it.”

Although Luka Doncic may not understand what a quarterback is, he is among the greatest passers in history, and his passes will get more attention now that he is in Los Angeles.

In their four games together, Doncic and LeBron have already made a few cross-court passes, and as they continue to get more at ease with one another, those will only increase in frequency.

The first meeting between the Lakers and Dallas since the historic deal will take place Tuesday night in Los Angeles at 9 p.m. CST on TNT.

 

 

 

The Los Angeles Lakers continued their impressive run on Thursday night, securing a 111-102 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first game of their back-to-back stretch. The win marks the Lakers’ fourth straight, improving their record to 35-21 moving them into the fourth seed in the Western Conference—just 1.5 games behind the second-seeded Memphis Grizzlies.

 

Once again, the Lakers were powered by their star trio of LeBron James, Luka Doncic, and Austin Reaves, who each delivered standout performances.

 

James led the way with 33 points, 17 rebounds, and six assists, while Doncic contributed 21 points, 13 rebounds, and five assists. Reaves also made his mark, adding 23 points, six rebounds, and five assists.

 

Beyond securing the win, James, Doncic, and Reaves made history, becoming the first Lakers trio to each record a 20/5/5 stat line in a game since 1988.

 

The Lakers set the tone early, jumping out to a 16-point lead by the end of the first quarter. However, Minnesota fought back, trimming the deficit to 11 points at halftime. The Timberwolves ramped up the pressure in the fourth quarter, cutting the Lakers’ lead to just three points.

 

With the game on the line, Doncic drilled a clutch three-pointer, followed by a LeBron James takeover in the final minutes, ultimately sealing the victory for LA.

 

The Lakers will look to keep their winning streak alive when they face their cross-town rivals, the LA Clippers, on Friday night. The matchup will be another crucial test as the Purple and Gold continue their push toward securing home-court advantage in the playoffs.