“Defensively is where you’re going to see us make the biggest leap” Darvin Ham’s take on next season could please LeBron James, Laker Nation

Darvin Ham

After a disappointing season under Frank Vogel’s leadership, the Los Angeles Lakers presented Darvin Ham as their new head coach on Monday. Despite the signing of Russell Westbrook, the Lakers were unable to repeat their success from the previous season in the 2021-22 season. In his first press conference as Lakers coach on Monday, Ham stated that the Purple and Gold will witness a significant change defensively in the 2022-23 season to both fans and analysts.

Ham: "Defensively is where you’re going to see us make our biggest leap.”

Said it has to start there, and build out accordingly.
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) June 6, 2022

Focus on the BIG 3.

Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook and Lebron James

The pressure will be on right away since this team is always dedicated on winning championships, and the expectations are high with the combination of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook. Last season, the trio didn’t connect as well as they had planned, despite the fact that they didn’t get much opportunity to play together due to injuries. Ham, on the other hand, is confident in his abilities to get the greatest performance from them and intends to keep everyone accountable. “It’s how can they compete together, It starts on the defensive end and from there we’re gonna build back toward the offense,” Ham said on his introductory press conference.

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Going into the 2022-23 season.

During their championship season in 2019-20, the Lakers were a strong defensive squad. In fact, in 2020-21, they were ranked first in defensive rating. However, things took a turn for the worst this season, as the franchise ranked 21st in defense and it’s definitely a major worry for the Lakers as Darvin Ham believes it’s a problem that has to be addressed fast this offseason before it worsens. Last season, the Lakers’ defense suffered a setback, which Ham intends to rectify right now. It’s where he set his flag as a player, and he realizes that the Lakers’ success depends on everyone on the team, from James to Davis to Westbrook, to engage in to it and, and if they don’t, he’ll make sure they know it.

Ham speaks on Russell Westbrook.

Russell Westbrook celebrates after hitting the clutch shot for the Lakers — Russell Westbrook

The greatest question mark is whether Russell Westbrook will return to the Lakers next season. For the press conference, Westbrook was in the building, and Ham was full of praise for the future Hall of Famer. “Russell, don’t get it messed up. Russ is one of the best players our league has ever seen and there’s still a ton left in that tank”, Ham said on Monday. He also added: “Russ and I have had some really great 1-on-1 convos and the biggest word I think that came out of those discussions was sacrifice, We’re gonna sacrifice whatever we got to do, and it’s not just Russ. There’s gonna be sacrifices that LeBron and AD has to make, on down the line through the rest of our roster.”