The Los Angeles Lakers fell short of a championship in each of the last two seasons and the blame seemed to fall on head coach Darvin Ham, who was fired and replaced by JJ Redick this past offseason.
Numerous Lakers players have spoken about how much they are enjoying playing for Redick, complimenting his schemes and most recently his accountability after a loss. A lot of those comments were also taken as shots at Ham, who clearly fell out of favor in the Lakers locker room during his final season with the team.
It appears the distaste for Ham stretches further than the L.A. locker room. Former Lakers guard Scotty Pippen Jr., who now plays for the Memphis Grizzlies, had a little extra motivation when playing against the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday night.
Ham is an assistant coach in Milwaukee and when asked about his stellar defense on Damian Lillard, Pippen implied that the former Lakers coach being on the bench was the reason, via Damichael Cole of The Commercial Appeal:
Scotty Pippen Jr. was one of the players who guarded Dame the most tonight. He said he “definitely” took that matchup personal. Why?
“One of the coaches over there didn’t believe in me so I definitely wanted to show I can play some defense.”
I’ll let you solve the puzzle. https://t.co/wFg1ugOIXv
— Damichael Cole (@DamichaelC) November 1, 2024
After going undrafted out of Vanderbilt in 2022, Pippen signed a two-way contract with the Lakers. He spent his entire rookie season in the organization but did not get many opportunities at the NBA level, which could be what he was referring to when he said Ham didn’t believe in him.
Pippen lost his two-way contract going into the 2023-24 season but still remained in the organization with the South Bay Lakers. He eventually moved on in January of that season, signing a two-way deal with the Grizzlies. Pippen’s play has continued to improve since then and after getting some opportunities to finish out the 2023-24 season due to all of Memphis’ injuries, he has now earned a standard four-year contract with the team.
While Pippen is no longer with the Lakers, it is cool to see him succeeding in the NBA and taking motivation from people like Ham slighting him. The Grizzlies are set to host the Lakers on Wednesday, so it will be interesting to see if he holds the same distain to the organization as a whole.
Lakers decline Jalen Hood-Schifino’s third year option
Part of the reason Pippen fell out of favor in the Lakers organization was because they drafted another point guard in Jalen Hood-Schifino in 2023.
Hood-Schifino’s career hasn’t gotten off to a great start though, and now the Lakers have declined his third-year team option, making him an unrestricted free agent this summer.
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