Lakers dismiss head coach Darvin Ham

The Los Angeles Lakers havepulled the plug and are dismissing head coach Darvin Ham, the teamannounced Saturday morning.

Amid all the rumors andspeculations surrounding the development, the Lakers have partedways with the coach who has been with them for over twoyears.

There were early reports overthe past week after the Lakers’ loss to the Denver Nuggets in Round1 of the 2024 NBA Playoffs. The Athletic’s Jovan Buha was quotedsaying, "The latest I've heard is the plan is still to move on fromDarvin [Ham] at some point, likely by the end of the week,potentially as early as tomorrow, then the head coaching searchwill start. I've already started to hear some names from differentpeople."

And today, the team finally madeit official in a team statement.

Lakers Part Ways With Head Coach Darvin Hampic.twitter.com/or3Bx2mZ5w

Ham and the Lakers have had agood run, going 90-74 over the past two seasons. Ham led LA to theWestern Conference Finals in 2023 but got swept by the DenverNuggets. The Lakers got back stronger this year, finishing with a47-35 record, but got ousted again by the Nuggets in 5games.

Along with Ham, the Lakers’entire coaching staff including Phil Handy and the others was alsodismissed by LA’s front office.

An extensive coaching search isset to commence as the Lakers continue their pursuit of thatelusive 18th championship banner. This development will add to analready busy offseason of roster moves and the impending decisionof superstar LeBron James about his future with theteam.