Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham has vowed to come back stronger in the ongoing season after a horrid start to the NBA 2022-23. Ham had replaced previous coach Frank Vogel but it has been a similar story of the previous season for the Lakers as they now have a 2-8 record.
The Lakers lost their eighth match of the season against Utah Jazz by a massive margin of 23 points (139-116). Nothing has gone the Lakers’ way so far but Ham is confident that they will turn the corner as he didn’t come to the Lakers to lose.
The Lakers are currently ranked in 14th place in the Western Conference out of the total 15 teams.
“I would say this, man. And write it, quote it, however,” Ham told reporters. “This may be happening now at the outset of what we’re trying to force to be a culture change in terms of getting us back to being highly competitive on a highly consistent basis, but it’s not going to always be like this.
“We’re going to turn the corner. I didn’t come here to lose. They didn’t bring me here to lose.”
Meanwhile, the Lakers’ talisman LeBron James missed the game against Utah Jazz due to trouble in his left foot. This is the second defeat that the Lakers suffered against the Jazz in the last week. Ham wants to convert all of this frustration of losing into redemption.
“There is a process involved where we have to go through tough times,” Ham continued. “Like, I want to bottle this up. I want to embrace it. I want to have it and store it so when things are turned around and we get too comfortable and we start complaining about some problems that are not even necessarily problems — problems that winning teams go through — I want to be able to reflect on these times.”
On the other hand, Anthony Davis reckons a 2-8 record is a difficult pill for him to swallow. Davis feels their defensive game has gone for a toss, which is leading to their downfall.
“S—, 2-8 is a hard pill for me to swallow,” Davis said. “Obviously, it can change around. I think New Orleans was 1-12 or something last year, come back and go on a run. We’ve got to put it together. The offense has found its rhythm. It seems like we’ve lost all our defensive intensity. And that’s what’s killing us.”
Lakers will next take on the LA Clippers on Wednesday night.
