The Lakers are not having the BEST time in the NBA right now. The Purple and Gold are having a mediocre season, and the fans are left wondering why a great talent like Austin Reaves is getting limited game time.
The head coach of the Lakers, Darvin Ham has tried to tackle this question to the very best of his abilities and coming up with several explanations to answer the curious fans. However, Lakers insider Anthony Irwin has revealed that there is something much deeper to the story being told.
Reported strain between Reaves and Ham in Lakers locker room
The Lakers did not have a dominant regular season this year and had to face a lot of ups and downs. They did win the inaugural In-Season tournament but ever since that, they have been a shadow of their former self. They have been facing difficulties in the final quarters and are also dealing with injuries. Austin Reaves was expected to be the next big thing in the Lakers camp and was supposed to hold the helm after LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
However, this doesn’t seem to be the situation right now, as Reaves has a very awkward placement in the rotation that poses doubts about his long-term role in the squad. Despite being a consistent scorer in the team, Reaves has been limited to only 30 minutes of play time ever since the season started. It looks like Ham makes sure to not play him more which now has made the Lakers nation question his decisions.
Ham even favored D’Angelo Russell in the starting lineup and put Austin Reaves on the bench. It raised a lot of eyebrows and people couldn’t comprehend why Ham would not play Reaves in the starting lineup and recreate the squad that made the Western Conference finals last season.
“This thing between [Reaves] and Ham is… something. I am here to tell you that I have heard it very clearly, that for whatever reason it might be, Ham does not mess with Austin the way that you would think he would. This might escalate to where an agent gets involved or the front office gets involved and people start asking what is going into these decisions?”, said Lakers insider Anthony Irwin about the situation between Ham and Reaves.
Irwin’s statements suggest the relationship between Austin Reaves and Ham is in a tense state and the possibility of the involvement of higher authorities, if things get bad, makes the matter even more serious.
Austin Reaves leads Sixth Man of the Year race as top contender
The Sixth Man of the Year award this season is full of great competition with names like Tim Hardaway Jr., Anthony Cole, and Immanuel Quickley in the race to win the prestigious prize. However, the Lakers’ sixth man is currently far ahead of all of them and is making an impact in every game that he plays in.
Austin Reaves is in great form right now, averaging 15.1 points, 5.0 assists, and 4.6 rebounds per game despite coming off the bench and only having a maximum game time of 30 minutes. He has established himself as the prime contender for the Sixth Man of the Year award. This is a little unfortunate for the player as he clearly can start games and make an impact in games as he has done in previous seasons. But the head coach of the Lakers has different plans in mind and for now, Reaves is the favorite candidate to win the title of Sixth Man of the Year.
What do you think about Darvin Ham’s decisions this season? Do you think Austin Reaves should start games instead of coming off the bench? We are eager to hear your thoughts, so drop down in the comments and let us know.
