Lakers Coach Darvin Ham Reacts To GM4 vs Warriors | May 8, 2023

Darvin, for everything in that game and how incredible it was both ways, just how about Lonnie Walker in the fourth quarter? He hadn't scored up to that point, hits the three, ends up getting 15 points. Where did you find the trust to bring him back into the lineup and what did you think as you watched that tonight? You know, as I've stated before, not only do you have to be on your P's and Q's, you know, dotting your I's, crossing your T's defensively, but another element that you have to do versus this phenomenal Warriors team, I mean, I just told the team in the postgame speech, there's no other team on Earth that plays the way they play and put you in the precarious positions that they do. They play with such speed and east, west, north, south. Their IQs, I mean, their chemistry, their rhythm, and when they're hitting like they were during, especially the second and third quarters, you know, it's daunting, but one of the elements of trying to, you know, stay close and hopefully come up with the victory is also keeping the scoreboard moving on your side. And, you know, we had an unfortunate loss up there, 27-point deficit, but going into that fourth quarter, you know, you kind of start thinking smart, thinking with your head, not your heart. How can you, you know, build up some equity for the following game? And that comes in the form of resting, you know, your heavy minute guys and just, I want to say throwing in the towel, but really just being realistic with yourself about what the outcome is going to be. It's their night, so we look for different ways how we can get better or find something, and that was the case. Lonnie came in, played well, and let me just back up and say this, man. The kid is a beautiful kid. You know, he fell out of the rotation through no fault of his own. We make the trade, you know, he had an injury, and it's just a lot of different circumstances, and that wasn't his fault, but he remained a trooper, remained professional, remained high-spirited, positive, and really kept working on his game, attacking his game every day, really staying locked in on the information, especially during these playoffs up to the point where, you know, he got, he was able to crack the rotation, and, you know, when your mind and your heart is in a good place, the body follows, and I've seen a ton of kids play with him, coached him, where, you know, there's nothing but negative because their individual circumstances aren't what they would hope them to be, and then when they do get an opportunity unexpectedly, they fail miserably, and so kudos to him, shout out to him, you know, he was a huge force tonight. Our team captains talking through coverages, matchups, LeBron in particular, just everybody, the dialogue, you know, we get frustrated because we know we could be doing things better, and the one thing we did, you know, I think it was 6.02 on the clock, where LeBron said, come on, man, whatever's done is done, this point forward, let's go be great, let's be great, and so the guys, all of us, everyone over there heard that message, and they came out, and we had some unfortunate turnovers late We had some unfortunate shots going on on their end, but we just kept going possession by possession, next play mentality, and stayed as aggressive as we could, and tried to put ourselves in a position to be successful, and we were able to do that, but Lonnie Walker is right in the middle of all of that. Darvin, I wanted to know your thoughts on LeBron's fourth quarter performance in particular, you start the quarter down seven, he orchestrates that 7.0 run, you tried to get him a blow, he might have been on the bench for 10 seconds, and then he's there to close it out, playing 43 minutes total, just how did he help organize you guys, lead you guys down the stretch? I mean, we spent a big chunk of the halftime looking at different clips, our transition defense, our pick and roll defense, we talked through matchups, they gave their input, and you have to listen to your players, like absolutely, I mean it's, I remember a time in the NBA where it was more of a dictatorship, and I've been around and played for some stubborn coaches, but I won't say any names, but I worked with some stubborn coaches, but you gotta listen to your players, man, in team sport, things gotta be collaborative, man, whether it's the video room guys, whether it's your assistant coaches, whether it's your players, guys that are looking at the game in an honest and genuine way, and trying to give you the best possible route that leads to success, and Brian did that, as well as went out there and put the team on his back for several possessions, and just got it done, and again, doing what he always does, and play winning basketball, and when Lonnie got it going, trying to find Lonnie, and just everybody's so excited for the kid, but Brian is definitely, he is who he is for a reason, and tonight that was on full display. Darvin, we've seen the chess match between LeBron and Steph before, where LeBron will call up whoever Steph is defending to kind of come into the action for pick and roll, we saw that a lot tonight in the fourth, what did you think of the chain reaction of that, and the way Golden State had to kind of scramble to help him, and the fouls he picked up, and just how effective that was down the stretch? I think it opens up backside, off ball lanes, passing lanes, driving lanes, because they know, they want to protect Steph, and so if he's involved in that on ball action, whether he's guarding the ball handler or the screener, they're gonna be on high alert, and they're gonna be shifting in to try to give support, and our guys, they just have to be disciplined, and they were, stay spaced, and be ready to attack, and the only times we really got in trouble, times we just held the ball too long, didn't go to the next thing immediately, or come running into a secondary or third screen, but all in all, we were able to be used at, and be really, really effective, whether it was Bron handling, and bringing Steph up, guarding the screener, whether it was Bron screening with Steph on the ball, it's just, you know, the way we had to attack, and also play downhill and not settle, but it was great, you know, that's just, again, figuring out a way, as the game go on, you gotta figure out a way, figure out a way, and keep marching towards your ultimate goal, which is a W, and, you know, we were very fortunate to get this game tonight. Darvin, Austin is another one of your role players that plays well for you guys, again, tonight, are you more surprised by what he does, or is this what you expect, and how is he doing physically? I mean, I'm not surprised at all, you know, he had some misses early, how many turnovers did Austin have tonight, just two? But, you know, it's his first time, his first time through, and he's doing a great job battling through the ups and downs, trying to stay aggressive, stay focused, stay locked in, not getting down on himself, and, you know, the whole locker room is supportive of everyone, you know, whether it's Lonnie, whether it's Austin, whether it's Bron, everybody's really on the same page, being supportive, and giving positive energy if they see a guy, you know, having some tough moments, but Austin, I expect him to be fearless, as always, and he was, you know, it was times he didn't have some not so good moments, but him being a trooper, you know, I pulled him over and I told him, stay aggressive, stay aggressive, and I said, a couple of those shots you're catching, a couple of those passes, you gotta be ready to shoot, and at the very next play, I swear, the ball came to him, and he just threw it up there, like, it was nothing, second nature, and it went right through the rim, so he just has to stay fearless, stay aggressive, stay locked in like he's always been, you know, he'll make it through the rough patches of different segments of the game, but again, he's having a ball in his first playoff run. Hey, Darvin, you said you've seen guys fail miserably when they've fallen out of the rotation and they have their big moment. Did you see signs before tonight that Lonnie would respond the way he did? Absolutely, you know, we talk, he's always positive, and you see him work, you know what I mean, when other guys may have, you know, we have these days we call get what you need days, well, for him, the low, no-minute guys, they go in there and we have a stay-ready group that is orchestrated by one of my assistants in front of the bench coach, Jordan Ott, and a lot of coaches are there, just looking and seeing what the approach is, and he goes in there upbeat, and he has great days in the stay-ready group, where they play four-on-four, five-on-five, sometimes three-on-three, coaches will jump in with him, and he just kept himself together, and stayed positive, stayed supporting his teammates, and again, that karma, that good, productive, positive karma, it's real, you know what I mean, whatever you put out in the world, you know, it's a 360-degree existence that we live in, and whatever you put out goes full circle, it's either gonna come back and slap you in the face, or come back and hug you, and so, you know, the energy he put out, he came back and hugged them, and hugged us, because he needed, we needed all of that. That was nice, a lot of hugging. So, when you're the all-time leading scorer, yeah, no problem, when you're the all-time leading scorer in this league, like, you put teams on your back plenty of times over that career, but at this stage, for LeBron, now that he doesn't have to, maybe necessarily with this team, how does that allow him to do things like switch onto Steph for huge chunks of the fourth, and do you sense in him total trust, especially in these playoffs, in allowing other guys to step forward into the light a little bit? I mean, I just think, you know, the type of talent that we were able to surround he and AD with, from the guys who are already here, Dennis, Austin, these guys, Lonnie, Troy, to the guys we brought in, you know, all the new guys, AD and that mix, you know, Bron and AD, I think they have an opportunity to not have to dictate each and every possession, and we try to get them the ball as much as possible, but there are times where, as you've seen with Austin Reeves, you've seen with Lonnie, you've seen with D-Lo, Dennis, Rui, other guys step up and they start making plays, and these guys, their eyes are wide open, and they allow themselves to be led, not only coached, but led by the guys, the elder statesmen that are in their locker rooms, and those guys in the locker room with them, leading those guys are two captains, Bron and AD, who've been through several, several wars, so I just think it's a matter of fact of him understanding that now he has a lot of guys left in the tank, thus, as you saw him coming out the game, then going right back in 15 seconds later, but he, when it's money time, like, you know, I've seen it coached against him when he's been in that mode, and, you know, it's just special. You know, there's not too many guys, not just in the league, but in the history of the league, that's able to not just perform well individually, but talk their teammates through situations and communicate with the coaches and put us in the best possible position to be successful. Hey, Darvin, since you've been in the league as a player and coach, you've seen a lot of the great defensive players. I just wondered if you could put AD's postseason so far into context, and even specifically those last couple plays, sticking with Steph out in the perimeter and the way that he can dance. Again, his versatility, man. He can defend laterally, vertically. His communication on the back line, his communication up when he has to, again, as you mentioned, switch on to a smaller guard, a superior perimeter threat such as Steph, who can also play downhill and make plays at the rim for his teammates. It's huge, and, you know, he's been locked in on that, and coming into the season, you know, that's all he talked about was being elite defensively and telling me constantly, you know, you know, I can read, coach. I can read. I can move my feet. I can read, and so he showed that tonight, and just to everybody, man, they, you know, the Team D, the multiple efforts, you know, again, we had a tough second and third quarter defensively, but the first and the fourth, you know, we set a good tone defensively. Things got a little shaky, a little shaky coming out of halftime, but then the fourth quarter when it was time, you know, we stepped up and were able to get shots, I mean, stops. Coach, basically at the trade deadline right in the front, you guys got a brand-new team, and that's not easy for a head coach to deal with, getting six new players at one time, but yet now you're one game away from the conference finals. Why has it worked? Just the buy-in, man, and starting with Brian and A.D. At the end of the day, man, I think they sat back and watched the way, you know, we had some tough moments early in the year to start the season and went through several. I mean, I can't remember how many different lineups would start lineups we had. I mean, I think we set a record. It was 37 or 38 last time I checked, somewhere like that, but I think the consistency of the coaching staff, the energy that they brought to the gym every day, and just a mentality to get better, and just talking through different things in our film sessions, and then once, you know, we flipped the team, so to speak, at the deadline, those guys welcoming those new guys in, and they become virtual coaches in terms of talking to their teammates, and sharing the terminology, and sharing how, you know, we wanted the constant film study, so I just think it's been everybody the buy-in, but it starts with just our players, man. Like, Brian and A.D., they've been great for me all year. You know, it's null and void. Like, I just want to go about doing things the right way, and then as long as the information is on point that we're getting, no matter if it's coach-to-coach, player-to-coach, coach-to-player, player-to-player, just as long as we're on the same page, and we're consistent with our message, and what we're trying to do, and extract out our defense and our offense, I'm good. Like, I don't have to be the one to take the credit. I know those guys in that locker room, they're the same way. We just want to put ourselves in a position to get W's, and it's going to be a tough one going up north. That game on Wednesday, going to be another dogfight. You can expect another dogfight. That's a prideful team. They're the defending champs for a reason, and so all of us are going to have to make sure we're on the same page when locked in. Knowing your background, how much you love the defensive end of the floor, you wanted this team to hang its hat on that end. Just how much are you enjoying the way this team is comporting itself? I just think the relentlessness, man. It brings a smile to my face, make me feel fuzzy and warm. Just the relentlessness, man. You know, I happen to be a part of, as a player, one of the all-time greatest defenses I think the NBA's ever seen. The old 304 Pistons, you know, holding people under 70 points for an entire game. Just being around Ben Shea, Chauncey, Rip, Tayshaun, all of Mike James, Lindsey Hunter, all these guys, Ellen Campbell, Corliss, Mimic. Like, all of these guys were totally focused on that end of the floor. It wasn't pretty most nights, but we figured out a way, and a lot of it was due to our getting stops and coming from Atlanta, Milwaukee, you know, the type of system we had on the coast, but it was the same type of deal. So that's one of the first things I wanted to check the box on, our competitiveness, us being together, and us being accountable. And it all starts on the defensive end. That gives you a chance each and every night. Last one. I'm sure these guys don't need reminders that the fourth one is the hardest one to get, but last series in game five in Memphis, is that something that's fresh enough in their minds that maybe it'll serve as a reminder? I mean, I just think that the monster that we're dealing with in the Golden State Warriors is we don't have to look back to Memphis, and we already know how hard it is to close teams out. So we just have to go up there and make sure we're all on the same page, make sure our competitive spirit is at an all-time high. Togetherness is at an all-time high. It's going to be a hostile environment. I'm looking forward to it, but it's definitely going to be a battle. You know, we just want to go up there and do what we need to do to be the best versions of ourselves, and between now and then, fill our cuffs back up and get ready to go rockin'. Thanks, Coach. Thank you. Locker room is open. Lonnie, A.D., LeBron, and Gear shortly.