LeBron James ‘didn’t respect’ Darvin Ham’s basketball knowledge, according to Gilbert Arenas

Gilbert Arenas says the former head coach of Lakers, Darvin Ham could never earn his stripes with LeBron James on the team.

LeBron James ‘didn’t respect’ Darvin Ham’s basketball knowledge, according to Gilbert Arenas

Darvin ham on his time as Lakers' head coach

Every team has high expectations for their new head coaches even if these expectations are unrealistic. After the Los Angeles Lakers’ early exit from the playoffs last season, head coach Darvin Ham was fired. Calling his firing unjust, Ham—who is now an assistant coach for the Bucks—questioned the Lakers’ judgment after winning his second NBA Cup in a row.

However, the panel of Gil’s Arena, feels like the coach was doomed to begin with. Due to LeBron James exceptional basketball knowledge and IQ, Gilbert Arenas thinks that Darvin Ham could earn his respect. Thus, it undermined Ham’s authority within the squad and led to the team losing important series against the Denver Nuggets in consecutive seasons.

The fact that your star player is smarter than you, that’s a hard job to have. You literally have to talk to LeBron’s ego. … For him to accept you, it’s like talking to some genius. … You have to outsmart him. LeBron’s basketball IQ is so high, if you don’t speak the same lingo as him, he’s not listening to you.

Gilbert Arenas said on his podcast
YouTube video

He illustrated this point with the example of how the greatest players, like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, never listened to any of their coaches except Phil Jackson. The reason, he explained, was that they admired Jackson’s grasp of the game and how well he had mastered his role as a coach. Any coach after him, he added, couldn’t fill Jackson’s shoes.

Arenas’ comments highlight the delicate and thin line coaches have to walk to manage a superstar’s expectations and ego. For any coach, gaining the respect of a player with LeBron James‘ stature is critical. Arenas also suggested that JJ Redick must have said something that resonated with LeBron James for him to land that coaching job.

Darvin Ham pulls-apart Lakers decision of letting him go

After winning his second consecutive NBA Cup with the Bucks in a decisive victory against the number one seed, the Thunder, Darvin Ham blasted the Los Angeles Lakers. Sprinkling a little salt in LA’s open wounds, Ham spoke with Andscape to discuss his stint in Los Angeles.

To do as well as I did… I swear to God, anywhere else I’m probably looking at an extension. I’m not talking feelings, just facts. They go from not making the playoffs to the Conference Finals, and we won the in-season tournament… people always talk about us losing to Denver, but they don’t talk about how we got to Denver. We beat a kick-ass young squad in Memphis, and we beat Stephen Curry and Golden State.

Darvin Ham via Andscape

Stating his case, Ham explained that instead of being rewarded with a contract extension for his success, he was dismissed. The coach helped a seventh-seed team make a deep playoff run in his first year. He continued that by winning the inaugural in-season tournament in his second season. Yet, he was surprised to find himself discharged from his coaching responsibilities.

Ham’s comments highlight the volatile nature of coaching jobs in the major sports league like NBA, where even significant achievements may not guarantee job security. His remarks serve as a reminder that success in professional sports often hinges not just on performance and results but also on perception and inner politics within the organization.