Darvin Ham: Lakers are "absolutely" close to a championship team
Darvin Ham, speaking at the Basketball without Borders camp in South Africa recently, told ESPN: “Absolutely [I think we’re close to a championship team]. We have leadership like LeBron James and Anthony Davis; some of the talent we were able to bring back in Rui Hachimura, Austin Reaves and D’Angelo Russell. Then, you think about the guys we added in Gabe Vincent, Taurean Prince, Cam Reddish, Jaxson Hayes. I think the sky is the limit for what we will be able to do. I think we added a lot of depth, a lot of guys that have skill, size and athleticism, so I look forward to all of that coming together.”
Source: Leonard Solms @ ESPN
Source: Leonard Solms @ ESPN
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“A coach I worked for always used to always say, ‘The most together team will win,'” said Ham. “I think the togetherness [is crucial to separating champions from the rest] and obviously, you need to execute and have a team full of guys who are willing to sacrifice their personal goals, their personal agendas, to align themselves with what the team goal is and that’s to win the championship.” -via ESPN / August 14, 2023
“Jeanie [Buss] and Darvin [Ham] and I were just probably the most excited to just get Anthony’s perspective on what it means to do an extension like this and what it means to become a leader of the Lakers for years to come,” Pelinka told Spectrum Sportsnet. “And for us, in our conversations with him, it was really centered around his character; who he is as a person, how he treats his teammates, his commitment to want to be the hardest worker and help establish our culture with that. -via Clutch Points / August 9, 2023
Considering that the Lakers aren’t naive about the chances of James and Davis playing 160 combined games, there are going to be shots that need to be taken and points that need to be scored. The big question would be whether the Lakers’ structure — headlined by coach Darvin Ham and James — could keep Wood focused on winning while eliminating some of his bad habits and overcoming some deficiencies. While he’s already played for seven teams, there’s at least some internal optimism that the Lakers could make it work as stop No. 8. -via Los Angeles Times / August 7, 2023