Darvin Ham on LeBron James' extension: 'It's huge'

ClutchPoints caught up with the Lakers head coach at the Gala, which honored Oscar De La Hoya, Ozzie Smith, Ray Lewis, Steve Madison, and Ken Goldin for their support over the years. Ham said he’s beyond ecstatic the franchise will be keeping a player of LeBron James’ caliber for the foreseeable future. “It’s huge, man,” Darvin Ham told ClutchPoints in an exclusive interview. “It’s huge. LeBron is once-in-a-lifetime player. You only get so many players. Not even so many. You have Bill Russell, you have Wilt Chamberlain, you have Dr. J, you have Moses Malone, you had Larry Bird, Magic , you had Jordan, you had Allen Iverson, Shaq , Kobe , and now it’s LeBron’s time.”
Source: Tomer Azarly @ Clutch Points

What’s the buzz on Twitter?

Danny Leroux @DannyLeroux
New @RealGM Radio podcast! @Ben Golliver, @SethPartnow and I go in-depth on the Pacific division. LeBron’s extension, who got better/worse, how many teams make the playoffs and much more: basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/268424… – 10:33 AM Krishna Narsu @knarsu3
Added a new stat to our @The_BBall_Index applications that I’ve been calculating all season. It’s very similar to the structure of LEBRON but instead of using box LEBRON as the prior, it uses @DSMok1 BPM from bball-ref. pic.twitter.com/ruu4ra7D2e – 9:14 AM StatMuse @statmuse
Most points by season:
2013 — Durant
2014 — Durant
2015 — Harden
2016 — Harden
2017 — Westbrook
2018 — LeBron
2019 — Harden
2020 — Harden
2021 — Steph
2022 — Trae pic.twitter.com/ex63bfElat – 7:15 PM NBA Math @NBA_Math
🗣NEW @HardwoodKnocks
🔘 Playoffs (3:04)
🔘 Pelicans (12:25)
🔘 Rivalry wishlist (19:37)
🔘 Bronny (24:11)
🔘 Storylines (29:03)
🔘 LBJ vs Bears (43:20)
🎧 https://t.co/ngCc7fmTvi
🍎 https://t.co/Ex9Dly5ZTb
https://t.co/VbfUI88mPG
📺 https://t.co/egPPmzumwt
FULL BREAKDOWN pic.twitter.com/LQMS7Fppop – 6:04 PM LeBron James @KingJames
Happy Gday Cocamo!! Heem Heem!! Love my brother!! @D19J 🙏🏾🏾👑 pic.twitter.com/5Ld1ZaEtaf – 3:57 PM StatMuse @statmuse
Lakers potential lineup:
Patrick Beverley
Buddy Hield
LeBron James
Anthony Davis
Myles Turner
____ seed in the West. pic.twitter.com/BXV8PJMQq1 – 9:41 AM StatMuse @statmuse
LeBron did all of this in one playoffs:
51 PTS | 8 REB | 8 AST
46 PTS | 11 REB | 9 AST
46 PTS | 12 REB | 5 AST
45 PTS | 8 REB | 7 AST
44 PTS 5 REB | 3 AST
44 PTS | 10 REB | 8 AST
43 PTS | 8 REB | 14 AST
42 PTS | 10 REB | 12 AST
The most 40-point games in a playoff run pic.twitter.com/EzGrzZ8kaT – 8:35 AM Rob Perez @WorldWideWob
Emergency Radio Roulette is LIVE @UnderdogFantasy
– Pat Bev traded to Lakers for THT
– What’s next for Westbrook?
– There is no way these two are playing together, right? RIGHT?
– LeBron’s extension
– Wait a second did the Jazz just steal THT?
Join us!
youtube.com/watch?v=hBkXnO… – 12:16 AM Sam Quinn @SamQuinnCBS
I think the Lakers desperately needed another defensive culture setter after last season’s tire fire.
LeBron, at his age, shouldn’t be expending the energy on defense he did in the 2020 title run. Beverley is the perfect vet to hold everyone else accountable. – 11:45 PM StatMuse @statmuse
The 2022/23 Lakers:
LeBron
Russ
AD
Pat Bev
Reaves
Nunn
Walker IV
Bryant
Toscano-Anderson
A top ___ seed in the West. pic.twitter.com/QMXQqx9gAC – 11:36 PM Christos Tsaltas @Tsaltas46
Patrick Beverley was EXACTLY what the Lakers needed to add. A consistent, energetic defender who can make it difficult for every opponent. His experience is valuable for a team like Lakers. His teaming up with LeBron, AD, Russ will be fun to watch. #LakeShow – 11:35 PM Justin Verrier @JustinVerrier
Really hard to believe LeBron signed the long-term extension without assurances of getting more help now. Doubt PatBev is the last Lakers move before the season. – 11:35 PM Adrian Wojnarowski @wojespn
Patrick Beverley is returning to LA — this time, with LeBron James and the Lakers pic.twitter.com/SHY6XGLIAa – 11:32 PM Dalton Johnson @DaltonJ_Johnson
“Can you describe the challenge defensively it is to guard LeBron?
Pat Bev: “No challenge.” 🫠 pic.twitter.com/xVlSVsOABx – 11:24 PM StatMuse @statmuse
Fun Fact: Kobe has more 60-point games than MJ, KD, LeBron, and Kareem combined. pic.twitter.com/kW4YO6gBTs – 9:55 AM Keith Smith @KeithSmithNBA
My mom doesn’t text, but I asked her which NBA players she could name. For current guys she knew:
Jayson Tatum (“but partly because of your dog”)
LeBron James
Stephen Curry (she said it like Steven)
and… Marcus Smart “because you say he’s underappreciated on the radio a lot.” – 9:51 AM BasketNews @BasketNews_com
Lakers are considering Dennis Schröder again and LeBron James would clearly be up for it 😆
🎥 @NBATV pic.twitter.com/eu1n3HOtG7 – 3:52 AM Sam Quinn @SamQuinnCBS
I’m pretty sure my mom could name five NBA players if only because she reads what I write so the names “Russell Westbrook,” “Myles Turner,” “Kyrie Irving,” “Buddy Hield” and “LeBron James” must be seared into her head by now. – 8:58 PM Tom Petrini @RealTomPetrini
Tim Duncan telling LeBron, “it’ll be your league in a little while, but thanks for giving us this year,” but it came out in 2007 pic.twitter.com/2G6aG0UGCx – 8:01 PM Jorge Sierra @hoopshype
🕹 LeBron James in video games through the years 🎮
hoopshype.com/gallery/lebron… – 5:40 PM Jovan Buha @jovanbuha
Five lineups we want to see from the Lakers next season based on the current roster:
— The Closers
— The best small-ball grouping
— LeBron with the bench
— Russ plus shooting
— And more:
theathletic.com/3528814/?sourc… – 5:16 PM Rosalyn Gold-Onwude @ROSGO21
My report on @WashMystics Natasha Cloud @T_Cloud4 working out & talking hoops w/ @LeBron James & @Dejounte Murray after @Jamal Crawford @thecrawsover star studded game in Seattle. Natasha put to use the advice LeBron gave her. Overall, incredible season for Cloud #GameRecognizeGame #wnba pic.twitter.com/v2oliD7pxX – 1:59 PM

More on this storyline

“It’s once-in-a-lifetime type player that’s gonna be mentioned with the greats and mentioned as THE greatest,” Ham continued. “The things that he was facing coming out of high school and things he had to endure and conquer. He’s passed all tests with flying colors.” -via Clutch Points / August 26, 2022 Jovan Buha: Lakers head coach Darvin Ham will make his return to Milwaukee when the Bucks host the Lakers on Dec. 2, sources tell @TheAthletic. The Lakers will also play in Cleveland on Dec. 6 on TNT, sources say. -via Twitter @jovanbuha / August 16, 2022 Clippers coach Tyronn Lue is unbeaten in seven games against the Lakers since taking over two seasons ago, while it will be Lakers coach Darvin Ham’s first meeting of arena tenants since his hiring in May. The game will be the Clippers’ season opener, while the Lakers will open two days earlier, on Oct. 18, at defending champion Golden State, according to a person with knowledge of the schedule. -via Los Angeles Times / August 15, 2022 Former NBA player Eddie House, on “The Odd Couple” podcast, noted that superstars asking for the head coach’s head isn’t uncommon. He likened the Brooklyn Nets’ situation to the time LeBron James asked the Miami Heat to fire head coach Erik Spoelstra: “It’s different when you’re a coach. If you cannot get the superstar guy to buy into what you are doing, it is almost a failed cause.“On every single team I’ve played on, even the team I played on with Bron, they were this close, they wanted Spo out but Pat was like, ‘Hell, no! That’s my guy and we gonna win with him.’ It took another leader to say, ‘No, this is how it goes.’ That’s Pat Riley I’m talking about.” -via SportsKeeda / August 26, 2022 CuffsTheLegend: the Russell Westbrook disrespect and vitriol is still corny regardless of how you feel about last season. Some people gotta get a life man. LeBron James: Can’t wait for him to go off this season!! -via Twitter @KingJames / August 25, 2022