(Editors' Note: Darvin Ham is in his first season as coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. He was a longtime NBA assistant coach and as a player helped the Detroit Pistons win the NBA title in 2004.)
When I got hired to coach the Los Angeles Lakers, one of the first things that I saw was the tweet where LeBron James congratulated me.
I鈥檓 not on social media myself, but people I know who are, and they saw it and screen-shotted it and sent it to me. All the major platforms were showing the tweet, so I got his number and called him and just had a lot of laughs.
That鈥檚 when I started to learn what he鈥檚 all about. There was a lot of excitement on that call. There was energy both ways. We were ready to get started, ready to get going. He was verbalizing it, that I have his full support and that we were going to figure this thing out, to right the ship, so to speak. He said we鈥檙e going to get back to the way we should be performing and what we鈥檙e representing in terms of the Lakers. And he鈥檚 lived up to that every step of the way.
I waited a long time for a job like this. And working with LeBron, it鈥檚 an interactive type of relationship. He has a willingness to be coached. I鈥檒l just start there. That鈥檚 the most awesome thing about 'Bron. He allows himself to be coached. You can get on him in a film session. You can point out mistakes. He鈥檒l either admit it 鈥� 鈥渕y bad鈥� 鈥� or if he disagrees, he鈥檒l disagree. And we figure it out. But it鈥檚 never anything malicious. It鈥檚 never anything personal. It鈥檚 not about his way or my way. We鈥檙e trying to figure out the best way.
That鈥檚 who he is. Everything has to be the best way. He鈥檚 one of one. His size, his athleticism, his shooting capabilities, his playmaking capabilities ... we haven鈥檛 seen anything like him before.
I don鈥檛 think he鈥檚 ever wanted the scoring record. He鈥檚 about team. He wants the team to do well. That鈥檚 the thing that shines through. He鈥檚 everything that he鈥檚 been advertised to be and much more. But just being around him and seeing him, I know he really enjoys his teammates. I鈥檇 even go as far as to say all this attention embarrasses him a little. When everybody鈥檚 trying to shine a light on him individually, he handles it with grace, don鈥檛 get me wrong, but he would much rather be a part of a group celebration than everyone talking about how great he is.
And we all know he鈥檚 great. Arguably the greatest. But he would prefer that everything be group focused. He鈥檚 about 鈥淗ow can my team and my teammates be put in the best position to be successful, not just me?鈥� It鈥檚 a beautiful thing to see. It鈥檚 a beautiful thing to live every day and witness firsthand.
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Darvin Ham, The Associated Press
