NBA IN-SEASON TOURNAMENT

December 9, 2023

Darvin Ham

Los Angeles Lakers

Championship Postgame

Lakers 123, Pacers 109

Q. Two questions, first, dominant performance by AD, 41 points, 20 rebounds and also a sleeper, Cam Reddish, defensively what he was able to do. He's been through a lot during the season. Your thoughts on those two?

DARVIN HAM: AD, just wanting us to enforce our will, impose our will on both sides of the ball, and he's the guy to do that. He's our anchor. He's a guy that carries a big load in terms of our points in the paint. What did we have tonight, 86 points in the paint, and just not settling.

We show 'em the stats, the points per possession with no paint touch, as opposed to a paint touch, and it's like night and day. Just this process of going through the early parts of the season, it's a process of discovery. You being able to be successful and have a surplus in terms of the win/loss column as opposed to a deficit while going through that process is huge.

Shout-out to the NBA, Adam Silver, the crew, everybody that took this idea and made it a reality. Even the way the games were interwoven into the regular season, it's a huge shot in the arm, especially for our group, the guys we brought back, the guys we added and just playing some highly, highly intense basketball games. With the playoff atmosphere/NCAA Tournament atmosphere, being in a neutral city, I dig it. It was a beautiful experience.

Shout-out to the Indiana Pacers. Hell of a ballclub. Really on the upswing, huge upside for the group. I'm so proud of our group, and I couldn't be more proud of LeBron and AD's leadership.

Cam and Taurean, these guys have been doing dirty work for us all year. It's amazing, you put people in a loving environment and allow them to just embrace it and encourage them, embrace it, put the work in, and we got top to bottom within our organization, everyone that's all about winning, winning people as well as winning professionals.

It doesn't surprise me what Cam is doing or any of our guys. AD just putting the team on his back and just Bron's focus, him being vocal on the court, off the court, film sessions, what-have-you, walkthroughs, everybody pushing the line the right way and holding the rope with both hands and pulling in the same direction.

Q. LeBron says he knows what he and AD are capable of together when they are both healthy, referencing this and the 2020 title. From first coaching against them as a duo to now having coached them for almost a season and a half, how special are they together as a superstar duo and what are they capable of moving forward?

DARVIN HAM: I think the sky is the limit. A hell of a one-two punch, and that one or two could be either one of them on any given night. And at the end of the day, they know how to take it to that next level when everything is on the line.

So we want to make sure, we talked about being the first, being on the right side of history and being the first to do something.

The passion and the love, or should I say, the love that creates the passion for the game that causes you to be involved, and then you having individual success, and obviously it's a team sport, that individual success, rolling over into team success keeps you involved, and then the opportunity to make history keeps you coming back. Those guys both experience that on an individual level, individual success and team success.

So have I, someone undrafted, never thought I would have a long NBA career. Played eight years, had an opportunity to win a championship and transitioned into coaching and doing the same, and having the 2021 championship year.

Now back on that same journey. A lot of people make money. A lot of people get an opportunity to make money. Very few get the opportunity to make history. That says a lot. Just the way they locked down the whole environment for us to be focused on the job at hand, whether it was New Orleans, especially once we got here to Vegas, the focus, you could just see it, the focus, the spirit of the team. Both of those guys spearheaded that tone. That tone was definitely set.

Q. What do you see in Austin that allows him to raise his level of play so much?

DARVIN HAM: I don't think he gets enough credit for how competitive he is. He's a competitor, man. You watch him work on his game. You watch him try to go make plays for his team, watch him make plays on both sides of the ball. He's just a highly, highly elite, intelligent basketball thinker and worker, and it shows once we get in these moments when we need him.

As I mentioned with Bron and with AD, Austin is also one of those guys that can carry the group at certain segments of the game, finish games and make all the plays you ask him to make and some that you weren't expecting.

So I love him to death. He wasn't feeling well tonight. I don't think a lot of people understand that. We've come off a long four-game trip back to the East Coast and all down through Oklahoma, back home, back out here. We're changing climates. It's one of those things where he put it together, man, and had the game, probably, arguably, everybody will talk about or reference the Phoenix game, but the game he had tonight, we needed every bit of it. He's a flat-out competitor, unassuming, just wants to handle his business and be there for his teammates.

Q. Going back to Cam, especially even before the season, all he had been through his career, bouncing around teams, what do you think this can do for him, his confidence to be on this stage, guard guys at this level, not just tonight with Tyrese, but through the season?

DARVIN HAM: Before we signed Cam, he and I had several conversations. Once we signed him, he told me, Coach, just be straight up and clear with me. Whatever you need me to do, whatever I'm not doing, just shoot straight. I said, oh, you got the right guy.

Cam is phenomenal. Like I said, it's just like me seeing Vando when he was in Minnesota going crazy on the glass, and me stopping him in the hallway in Milwaukee, and after they had beaten us at home, telling him, I hope I get to coach you one day. I love the way you play.

It's the same thing with Cam. I got to see Cam guard one of the best players on our team, one of the best players in the league, him being an All-Star in Khris Middleton in the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021. Not only did he play elite defense, he was knocking down threes. I think he had four made threes, I can't remember which particular game it was. But he always stuck in my mind.

He's the quintessential 3-and-D guy, but he can also handle the ball. We use Cam to initiate plays. Cam can switch off on basically anybody. He has a knack for getting deflections and steals. Comes up with huge rebounds. He can finish. He can space the floor.

All of that said, I just told him, man, embrace the work. The environment is going to love on you, so make sure you submerge yourself into the environment that we've created with our program. He's going to flourish within it.

Q. Speaking of Las Vegas, you spent two games and three nights here. What's your assessment as Las Vegas as a potential NBA market?

DARVIN HAM: It's above my pay grade, at least right now. But Las Vegas is definitely an NBA city. It's a total professional sports town. Has the infrastructure alone of what it represents, you know, everyone, the tourists, everyone coming here. It's built-in energy and electricity here. So you see from the Aces and the Raiders, everybody that's coming here, NHL, it's built for what we just witnessed out here tonight.

We felt like we had a little bit of a home-court advantage, it being so close to L.A. There's a ton of L.A. Lakers fan here. That said, just in general theory, I think Las Vegas would be a great NBA market.

Q. Tell me to your point, when you come off of this, you're playing in Dallas on Tuesday night. This is kind of unprecedented to win a championship and then go back to the regular season. How do you plan to handle it?

DARVIN HAM: Like we handle our business all the time. We just stay locked in step, keep our rhythm together, understand that no matter what, we have to be the most competitive, together, accountable team on the floor, and then within that realm we have to bring the energy, the effort and the discipline.

This is a great source of positive stimuli for us with this group, trying to come together with guys coming from being inactive to being active and being in rhythm, the continuity and also the heightened awareness because we're playing an In-Season Tournament. I think just everyone being able to have their competitive spirit revealed and people, their comrades to see their competitive spirits was a huge shot in the arm for us.

Our group needed this and we needed to win this. If it goes the other way, then you try to rationalize whatever, but the fact that we were able to come here and do what we did -- obviously it was a lopsided game here in the semifinal game, but Indiana put up a great fight.

Indiana put up a good fight. Young, up-and-coming ballclub. But we needed this. We'll be okay, man. We'll be okay, trust me.

Q. You don't think there will be a natural letdown?

DARVIN HAM: Nah, man. The joy you saw is authentic, obviously. The competitiveness is authentic. We know, we are well aware of what's waiting on us on this road trip.

And San Antonio, they are going through their own process of discovery. But make no mistake about it, each and every night in this league is not easy anymore. There's no sleepwalk games. Everybody is coming to play hard. They are going to force you to execute, force you to play with toughness and togetherness and competitiveness in order to secure a win. It's not going to be a layup. I don't think there's a layup anywhere in the league, period.