More on the Lakers' coaching hire
As we await the true coronation of Darvin Ham as Frank Vogel's successor, this week's around-the-league notes lead off with L.A.'s (and Boston's) fondness for an earlier target
The Los Angeles Lakers have not yet formally announced the hiring of Darvin Ham as their new coach. The closest thing to a stamped acknowledgment from Lakerland that Ham has been selected to succeed Frank Vogel is the welcome tweet that the news inspired a week ago from LeBron James.
UPDATE: One minute after I published this story, we got the following tweet from the Lakers β¦
(Back to the original text β¦)
The most interesting thing I've heard while we wait for Ham's official introduction is that, according to the latest buzz in league coaching circles β¦
This is an excerpt from my latest NBA column. To read it all and receive full access to all of my work, please click the link or the orange button to subscribe.
Comedy Central
I've been writing about Quin Snyder's uncertain future in Utah since March. The Salt Lake Tribune followed up immediately by asking Snyder to respond to my reporting on March 23, which he declined to do with any specificity. Questions about Snyder's status for next season have been a constant topic of conversation around the Jazz (and around the league) ever since.
So it was amusing (at least to me) to see ESPN finally decide to weigh in on the Snyder saga with a relatively late-night posting Tuesday.
Tuesday's date: May 31.
ESPN does this all the time, of course, but not typically with a two-plus-month delay. You can also take me and my own axes to grind with the four-letter network out of the equation completely; it's the frequent newsbreaking β¦
This is an excerpt from my latest NBA column. To read it all and receive full access to all of my work, please click the link or the orange button to subscribe.
Question of the Week
As brilliant as the Celtics were in the fourth quarter of Game 1 of the NBA Finals, I still think they're going to have to win twice at Chase Center to win this series.
Who's with me?
The Celtics certainly had little trouble adapting to the Finals stage, after my misplaced prognostications that they would need at least a game to adjust to the brightest lights in the game, but I still see a 2-2 series as the most likely scenario heading into Game 5.
I suspect few will agree with me after Boston pulled away with ease in the series opener despite Jayson Tatum's 3-for-17 shooting. The Warriors will have to tune out a fair bit of uncharacteristic panic sure to be shoveled their way over two full days of overreaction heading into Sunday's Game 2.
As long as Stephen Curry's fourth-quarter ankle tweak was nothing serious, I refuse to write off Golden State's capacity to bounce back.
Thoughts?
Dot Dot Dot (πππ)
π Milwaukee's Bobby Portis can become a free agent this offseason if he bypasses a $4.6 million player option for 2022-23, but there is already β¦
This is an excerpt from my latest NBA column. To read it all and receive full access to all of my work, please click the link or the orange button to subscribe.