Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham is on the hot seat — well, at least he should be. The Lakers have wildly underperformed this season and Ham’s odd coaching decisions have been at the forefront of those struggles.
Ham’s rotations haven’t made much sense and it is obvious that he has established favorites that will get more run than other guys. Just look at someone like D’Angelo Russell. Russell has his flaws and will probably still be shopped by LA this season but there is no world in which Taurean Prince should be getting way more minutes on a near-nightly basis.
One player who has seemingly been in Ham’s dog house all season is Max Christie. Christie thrived in the Summer League and preseason, and it looked like the second-year wing was ready for an increased role this season. That is not what Christie got as Cam Reddish has gotten all the playing instead.
If that was not damning enough then Saturday night’s loss against the Utah Jazz should tell fans all they need to know. Christie did not play a single minute in a close fourth quarter that the Lakers desperately needed to win. In a vacuum that would not be egregious; but what makes it awful is the fact that Skylar Mays did play in that fourth quarter.
Christie did get more minutes in the game than Mays but the fact that Ham was more trusting in Mays in the fourth quarter tells the entire story. Ham does not appear to be a fan of Christie even though he has played well every time he has gotten an opportunity.
It isn’t like Ham was riding the hot hand, either. If Mays was knocking down shots left and light and was playing with a fire underneath him it would be one thing. Mays didn’t score a single point (0-2 shooting), had two assists, one steal, one rebound and two fouls. He was a -5 in the game.
Christie didn’t put up any real numbers either as he went 1-2 from the field with a three-pointer made. But the Lakers were at least a +9 in the 14 minutes of playing time that he did get. That isn’t nothing.
At the end of the day, the fact that Ham trusted a two-way signing who just joined the team last week over a second-round pick who has been developing says all you need to know. And it doesn’t say much about Christie, who does still have potential. It showcases just how out of touch Ham really is with this team.
