The Los Angeles Lakers are underperforming and currently in ninth place in the conference standings.
The team is struggling offensively, ranking low in offensive rating and three-point makes per game.
There are potential issues between head coach Anthony Ham and guard-forward Austin Reaves, which could escalate further.
Their NBA Cup championship notwithstanding, the Los Angeles Lakers have to this point fallen well short of the mark fans and pundits had set for them in 2023-24 following their Western Conference Finals run last season.
Entering the new year, LeBron James and his crew were sitting in 10th place in the conference standings at 17-17.
Meanwhile, the team ranks in the bottom 10 league-wide in offensive rating (112.4, 23rd overall) and three-point makes per game (10.9, 28th).
The problems apparently haven’t been contained solely to the court, either.
During the December 29 episode of the Lakers Lounge podcast, team insider Anthony Irwin revealed that there could be major issues brewing between head coach Anthony Irwin and prized guard-forward Austin Reaves.
“This possible thing between [Reaves] and Ham … it’s something.
I’m here to tell you, I’ve heard it very clearly, that for whatever reason, Ham just doesn’t mess with Austin the way that you would think he would, and it needs to get fixed.
This might escalate all the way to where an agent gets involved, or the front office gets involved and people start asking what is going into these decisions?”
After playing a key role in the Lakers’ late-season resurgence in 2022-23, Reaves went into the summer with a significant level of heat.
So much so, that Lakers decision-maker Rob Pelinka had to give him a four-year, $54 million deal just to keep him in Hollywood.
Alas, after a poor start from the field in the new campaign, Ham elected to move Reaves to the bench.
