Hamm: When I coached the Lakers, the lineup was unbalanced and there were various problems among the stars.
6686 Sports reported on November 7 that Bucks assistant Hamm recently participated in the "Hoop Genius Podcast" program and talked about his experience coaching the Lakers.
Ham said: "I felt both lucky and honored when I joined the Lakers. I am forever grateful to the Buss family and Pelinka for choosing me to guide the team through that difficult period. To be honest, during my coaching period with the Lakers, I mainly focused on organizing and optimizing the ball. Our lineup was unbalanced and there were many issues to sort out among the stars. In the end, we reached a deal, which laid the foundation for us to reach the Western Conference Finals that year."
"I am very grateful to the players for working hard for me. That year, I felt that I handled it well. I had a principle: I would never belittle my players in public. I always tried my best to defend the players in front of the media. Although it may not be completely true in strategic game reviews, I always remained consistent in front of the media. The message is to be competitive, united and accountable to each other. "
"When I took over, the team's record was 33 wins and 49 losses. We ended up winning more than 10 games than the previous season and ended the season at 43 wins and 39 losses. The 13th and 14th places were promoted to the playoffs and secured a playoff spot by defeating the young Timberwolves. Then, we defeated the defending champion Warriors, who had Hall of Fame players such as Curry, Dream Green, and Klay Thompson. Later, we met in Denver. The best performance of Jokic."
"I have no resentment and no regrets. I just hope that there will be time to see the team's plan fully realized. I feel that we have laid a solid foundation for the team to return to a competitive position. The Lakers will always be the favorite. team, but me and my coaching staff made them a real championship contender again, and that’s all a coach can ask for. My grandma always said, ‘No matter what job you do, you leave better than when you came in.’ I feel like I did that in Los Angeles.” p>
It is worth mentioning that what Ham said about "reaching a deal" refers to the fact that the Lakers sent away Westbrook and the protected first round in 2027 in the middle of the 22-23 season, and obtained Russell, Malik Beasley and Vanderbilt through a three-party transaction.
