The NBA’s inaugural In-Season Tournament has been a success so far. Many players have spoken positively on about the atmosphere and energy surrounding the games and the Los Angeles Lakers have seen great success.
The Lakers went 4-0 in group play and Darvin Ham’s team is now waiting for the conclusion of the rest of the group stage to find out who they will be facing in the elimination round.
One thing that is for sure is that the Lakers will be hosting that first game as not only did they go undefeated, but also have the largest point differential in the tournament so far. And Ham believes being able to stay at home is a good thing for his team.
“Yeah, totally,” Ham said when asked if home court is important. “Whenever you can sleep in your own bed and be in your own facility at home with all of the resources you have within that building and all of the comfortability you have in your own home and not have to jump on a plane and then jump on a bus and go to a hotel with a foreign bed, it plays into us continuously getting stronger and getting into a better rhythm.
“Playing in front of our home crowd, that’s another good nugget considering these circumstances. You can’t compare it to the playoffs by any means but it is… guys like money. Not like it, they love it. So that incentive right there is huge. For all of those reasons, we want to make sure we take care of business.”
The potential for each player to win $500,000 is a big incentive, especially for those younger players lower on the roster. The league’s biggest stars might see that level of money, but that isn’t always the case for the 15th man. Right now, the Lakers are in great position to potentially become the first In-Season Tournament champions and playing at home helps that.
And Ham believes this tournament is here to stay and will only get better from here. The Lakers coach doesn’t believe it will ever surpass the main championship, but loves the intensity of the games and feels it is adding some motivation during a time that hasn’t always been the case.
“Obviously the Cup will never supplant the Larry O’Brien,” Ham added. “But I think the intensity of the games, the ones I’ve seen anyway, teams have been trying to figure themselves out here early [in the season] and it puts a whole lot of intensity in the game and these guys are aware of that. I definitely think it’s gonna stick and I just think it’s gonna grow and different elements will be added to it to enhance it even more and then we’ll see where it goes.
“But I don’t think it’s going anywhere, I think games have been at such a high level than they normally would. At this time [of the season], you usually start feeling that wall kick in a little bit starting now about 15-20 games, 25 games in. The freshness, the newness of the season starts to wear off a little bit and then you start feeling little injuries. But again, this In-Season Tournament has added some spiciness with again what normally just be a run-of-the-mill regular season game.”
For the most part, there has been nothing but positive feedback regarding the In-Season Tournament and as time goes on, Ham is right in that the league will only continue to work to make it better.
Lakers coach Darvin Ham states what he’s thankful for
With the holiday season now in full swing, Ham was asked what he is thankful for prior to Thanksgiving taking place.
“I’m thankful for God blessing me with a beautiful family, wife and children, beautiful parents that raised me to not be too high, not be to low and to always put God first and just be thankful for the opportunities I get, no matter how small or large.
“I just appreciate the human beings that pitched in to make who I am today, and I’m still a work in progress as we all are. Just trying to get better, have the right spirit, have a positive outlook. And I’m thankful to Jeanie Buss for giving me an opportunity.”
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