The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Denver Nuggets (who had some weird pregame warmup slides issues) to avoid a first-round sweep on Saturday night, but it didn’t come without tension on the part of LeBron James.
Early in the fourth quarter, with the Lakers trying to hold off a Nuggets comeback, it sure seemed like Denver carelessly turned the ball over out of bounds. Except the officials initially ruled that James had grazed the ball, letting the Nuggets retain possession.
James proceeded to plead with Lakers head coach Darvin Ham and the rest of the Los Angeles coaches to challenge the call quickly. They didn’t, which enraged James, and Denver took advantage by laying the ball up right behind him. Oof:
LeBron LOST IT on Darvin Ham when he didn’t challenge this call 👀 pic.twitter.com/LLLgu5toN8
— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) April 28, 2024
This isn’t the first time Lakers players have seemingly had major issues with their coaches during this series. For example, Point guard D’Angelo Russell didn’t join the team huddle during a brutal Game 3 defeat. Whatever’s happening in Laker Land, it seems apparent there might be a significant disconnect between the players and coaches.
