Darvin Ham Is the 6th NBA Coach Who Has Been Fired on a LeBron James Team

After the Los Angeles Lakers made the decision to fire Darvin Ham, many NBA fans have begun to wonder about LeBron James‘ effect on the team and his relationship with head coaches over his 21-year-long career. Sing King James is the oldest active player in the league and the most accomplished, he is also incredibly influential and plays a much bigger role on his team when compared to any other player.

Since LeBron has reportedly gotten players traded away in the past, he has earned the nickname LeGM. It might surprise some fans to hear that the LeGM effect also works on coaches for his team. With that being said, let us take a closer look and find out more.

Erik Spoelstra and Tyronn Lue might just be the only coaches who survived LeBron James’ scrutiny

Over his 21 years in the NBA, LeBron James has played under 8 coaches and won 4 NBA championships. However, 6 of them ended up being terminated from their employment for his team after not living up to expectations. Paul Silas, Mike Brown, David Blatt, Luke Walton, Frank Vogel and now Darvin Ham are all coaches who were fired while coaching LeBron James.

The only coaches that survived and retained their position during his time with their team are Erik Spoelstra from LeBron’s time with the Miami Heat and Tyronn Lue from LeBron’s second stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Since both those coaches helped establish their teams as title contenders and consistently made deep playoff pushes every season, one can understand why LeBron had no problem with them.

While it might be unfair to claim that the 4x NBA champion played a big role in the dismissal of these coaches, the majority of the basketball community appears to agree that it all occurred after gaining his consent. This indicates a greater problem that likely needs to be addressed.

Does King James have too much influence on his team?

When it comes to the NBA, the coach holds quite a lot of power. After all, he can decide lineups, make substitutions, call for timeouts, and demand foul challenges. Even NBA legends such as Michael Jordan had a fair amount of respect for their coaches such as Phil Jackson.

However, LeBron’s accomplishments over the course of his career make it very difficult to find a coach that he is willing to listen to. After all, fans can imagine how it would feel to coax the NBA’s all-time leading scorer to listen to a game plan that he may not agree with. Moreover, LeBron has a lot of power when it comes to roster construction and can even convince his team to change the coaching staff.

In any case, this aspect of King James is not looked at too fondly by fans. It allows some of them to criticize him and his approach to the game. As the Lakers continue to look for a new head coach, people are left wondering if their next coach will have LeBron’s seal of approval.