On Monday, the Los Angeles Lakers officially introduced Darvin Ham as their new head coach.
He is something of a breath of fresh air for them, as he is a first-time head coach who is almost universally lauded for his strong communication and leadership skills.
Ham talked a bit about making Russell Westbrook work well with LeBron James, but he also mentioned his top goal with the four-time MVP.
The new Lakers coach wants to make things a bit easier on James.
He played 37.2 minutes per game this season, which was his most since the 2017 season when he was 32 years of age. Although he had a remarkable individual season, he also had multiple injuries which held him to just 56 games.
Ham says his No. 1 goal is "lessen the wear and tear" on LeBron
— Jacob Rude (@JacobRude) June 6, 2022
Lowering James’ minutes will be pretty much a necessity if L.A. is to become an elite team again. The team must do whatever it can to keep him fresh during the regular season so that he will raise his game like he always has in the playoffs.
It will also be in the Lakers’ best interest to try to extend James’ prime as much as possible so that they may add another year to their championship window.
