The Los Angeles Lakers have seemingly reached a low point on the season after back-to-back losses to the below-.500 Rockets and Hawks in succession. In both of those games they gave up more than 130 points (something they’ve done in four straight games, but managed to win the first two) and lost by double digits. Making matters worse, their road trip will continue with much stiffer competition later this week, as they face the NBA’s best team in Boston and a Knicks team with the league’s longest active winning streak next.
On Tuesday night in Atlanta, the Lakers were without Anthony Davis as he sat out on the second night of a back-to-back. In his place, Jaxson Hayes got the nod as L.A.’s starting center over Christian Wood, as Darvin Ham looked to find the right combination with his star big man out.
First five vs the Hawks@ToyotaSoCal | #SuitingUpTogether pic.twitter.com/16E09QSIc1
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) January 31, 2024
Six minutes after the starters were announced, Christian Wood simply tweeted “lol”, seemingly offering his feelings on being left on the bench even with Davis sitting out.
Lol
— 35 (@Chriswood_5) January 31, 2024
Neither Hayes nor Wood had a particularly good game, but Wood did out produce Hayes with nine points and eight boards compared to six points and six rebounds from Hayes. Neither provided much resistance on defense, which has been an issue for some time for the Lakers, and ultimately it probably didn’t matter who Ham rolled with on Tuesday night at the five spot.
Still, it was a talking point after the game and both Ham and Wood addressed the tweet, with Ham first saying he hadn’t seen it but declared the starting lineup wasn’t “a popularity contest,” and he was making the decisions he felt were best for the team.
Here's Darvin Ham's full answer on Christian Wood's pregame tweet: pic.twitter.com/G1ThgiD681
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) January 31, 2024
Wood, meanwhile, insisted he meant to quote tweet something, but forgot to do that and so he simply tweeted “lol” without any context and that wasn’t what it was about.
Christian Wood’s explanation of his “lol” tweet shortly before the Lakers tipped off against the Hawks tonight: pic.twitter.com/yQRtnD3J1F
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) January 31, 2024
Whether you buy that excuse or not is up to you, but this certainly doesn’t help the rumblings that there’s a locker room disconnect in L.A. between the players and Ham. The task only gets more difficult as they head to the northeast to face the Celtics and Knicks, and if they continue to lose in the fashion they are now, one can expect some significant changes on the horizon for the Lakers.
