With Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham getting fired a couple of days ago, the search is now on to find his replacement. The franchise is going through its own list while the rest of the NBA world makes its predictions. Along with a certain basketball IQ and years of experience backing it, a key factor that fans believe would be needed in the next Lakers coach is the compatibility he would share with the team’s lead scorer, LeBron James. According to several analysts, however, achieving the same would be a challenging feat.

A few hours ago, Fox Sports Radio anchor Martin Weiss and co-host VeeJay Huskey released another segment of their weekend show. During the same, they highlighted how LeBron James and Anthony Davis’s disapproval of Darvin Ham was an alleged key factor in the coach’s exit. This led the hosts to determine that no coach would be welcome to train the Lakers roster if LeBron and Davis didn’t first give him their blessing.

“I think at this point, it doesn’t matter who you hire, and the respect is just not gonna be there,” said VeeJay Huskey, adding, “LeBron wants a coach where he can do what he just wants to do. That’s not respecting somebody.”

Huskey proceeded to defend Darvin Ham, who boasts a championship ring as a coach and another as a player with the Detroit Pistons. He believed that LeBron James refused to establish a relationship based on mutual grounds and respect with the coach, which has caused this current situation. LeBron James may be one of the best basketball players of the modern generation, however, according to the on-air hosts, some of the legends that came before him didn’t choose to have any fictitious relationships with their coaches.

“All of the great ones are attached to a coach,” said the duo’s offscreen co-host, Monse Bolaños, continuing, “Michael Jordan: Phil Jackson. Kobe Bryant: Phil Jackson. Tim Duncan: Greg Popovich. Dirk Nowitzki: Rick Carlisle. Who is LeBron attached to? Nobody”. Through this remark, Bolaños highlighted that the All-Time Lead Scorer had been a lone wolf, refusing to let anyone else tell him the best way to play a game. While Darvin Ham would have been the latest person to try and fail to control the star, he wouldn’t have been the first.

What disagreements took place between LeBron James and Darvin Ham?

In his 21-year NBA career, LeBron James has had over 9 coaches. By 2010, after Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown had been fired, the player’s disagreements with his previous trainers had earned him the unflattering nickname ‘Coach Killer’. The term made a comeback during the next few years and has now been rejuvenated by the exit of Darvin Ham. But why is LeBron James being blamed for it?

USA Today via Reuters

It was no secret that the Lakers star was not a big fan of Frank Vogel’s successor. A couple of months ago, Lakers Daily journalist Andrew Irvin reported how LeBron would sit in a huddle alongside his teammates and would occasionally “roll his eyes” whenever Ham provided instructions to them. Once the coach was done, he would then get up, exclaim, “f**k all that” and give out his own set of instructions. During an episode of his podcast, ‘Mind the Game’, the player even revealed going against Ham’s instructions during a pivotal game.

“We had switching built in versus Kawhi (Leonard) and versus James (Harden) and whatever the case may be, and I vetoed it in the second half,“ LeBron James revealed. “I know T-Lue more than any other player that’s ever been with T-Lue …. It got to a point where I knew in order for us to get back into the game, switching anybody else onto Kawhi is not favourable for us”. Despite the insubordination, LeBron’s thinking helped the Lakers recover from a 19-point deficit and win by a score of 116-112.

After Ham’s exit, ESPN reporter Ramona Shelburne revealed how the coach attempted to limit the four-time NBA champion’s minutes before the beginning of the season. After LeBron rejected it, the plan was abandoned after a few games. The blame for Darvin Ham’s firing cannot be entirely placed on the shoulders of one player. However, if recent events have told us anything, that one player’s disapproval may or may not have played a role in it.