If Austin Reaves Is Not Fired I Will Leave The Head Coach …
ANOTHER DISAPPOINTING LOSS weighed on Los Angeles Lakers coach Darvin Ham as he maneuvered Saturday night I-110 traffic to catch a redeye flight back to his personal basketball bliss.
It was March 16, and Ham’s Lakers had just been handled at home by the Golden State Warriors for their third loss in their past five games. It was L.A.’s second straight defeat to a team it was battling with for playoff seeding — the Sacramento Kings had controlled the action three nights earlier.
Ham’s trip wasn’t just taking him 2,300 miles east, but 20 years back in time. The Detroit Pistons were celebrating the franchise’s 2004 championship team two decades after they beat Ham’s current employer in an NBA Finals run still heralded as one of the most shocking in league history. Ham played in 76 games that year for the Pistons, including 22 in the playoffs and all four of Detroit’s Finals wins.
Following a few hours of sleep at the Godfrey Hotel in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood, Ham piled into a Sprinter van with a handful of his former teammates to head to Little Caesars Arena, where they were honored during a halftime ceremony.
“The pride of Saginaw, he brought the muscle, the power, both offensively and defensively,” Pistons public address announcer John Mason bellowed into the microphone when it was Ham’s turn to be introduced. “Say hello to dunkin’ Daaaaaarvin Ham!”
