The morning of the Lakers 107-120 loss to the Sacramento Kings, D'Angelo Russell gave ESPN an exclusive where he discusses everything he's been through since joining the Lakers. Darvin Ham was a key subject of Russell's discussions, with the story revealing that Russell and Ham had a tense disagreement during a film session in January this year.
After a shock loss to a short-handed Heat in January, Ham criticized his players' effort in a film session, which prompted Russell to argue for better schemes to be put in place. Ham wanted to see better effort while Russell wanted to see alternative schemes. The Lakers coach opened up on this exchange to ESPN as well.
"There's times we agree to agree, agree to disagree, or come to an understanding.. But it's not so much the dialogue as it is the access to have it. And I can't stress that enough. I can go to him and let him know how I feel and meet him halfway, or tell him I need him to come more over to my way, or [it can be] him telling me how I need to trust him more and come more over to his way. And it's a workable relationship."
Russell seemed to be happy with whatever came of that disagreement as well, commenting on the same.
"We played tennis with that. I hit the ball back, he hit it to me... That's the season. That's what you use 82 games to develop, and we developed it."
The Lakers did start improving their form after that loss to the Heat, with their best stretch of results coming with six wins in seven games in February. That momentum has fizzled out, as the Lakers sit 36-31 this season and rooted to the No. 9 seed in the West.
Russell was one of the main players responsible for the Lakers' 107-120 loss to the Kings, shooting 2-9 and scoring only six points.
Darvin Ham Lost His Preferred Point Guard On The Lakers
D'Angelo Russell's interview with ESPN brought about another revelation. Darvin Ham had coached Dennis Schroder as an assistant during their shared time on the Hawks. This relationship prompted Ham to trust Schroder over Russell at various points last season, including the playoffs where Russell was benched in favor of Schroder.
Russell has said he couldn't build a relationship with Coach Ham because of Dennis' presence.
"His relationship with Darvin is the reason I couldn't have a relationship with Darvin... When I was struggling, I would've been able to come to the coach and say, 'Bro, this is what we should do. Like, I can help you.' Instead, there was no dialogue... I just accepted it."
There is clear distrust between the pair after how Russell was treated last season, but Ham has shown that positive play on the court will be rewarded. Russell lost his starting spot on the Lakers after a tough spell in December but earned it back after his form improved from January onwards.
Schroder leaving for the Raptors in the summer prompted D'Angelo to re-sign in the summer, though he still chose to sign a 1+1 player option deal to re-enter the market this summer if he remains unhappy with the Lakers.
Given how he is already throwing shade toward the team's coaching schemes after their loss to the Kings, that player option could be useful if Ham remains in charge if they disappoint this season.
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