Lakers fans break out ‘Fire Darvin’ chants late in Game 3 loss to Nuggets
As the Lakers were losing an 11th straight game to the Nuggets and falling behind 3-0 in the series, fans voiced their frustrations at Darvin Ham late in Game 3.
The Lakers are stuck in a timeloop these playoffs and the Nuggets are making it the worst possible outcome every single time. Thursday was the latest installment with the Lakers jumping out to an early lead, falling behind in the second half and, this time, losing without much of a fight.
That marked the 11th-straight win for the Nuggets over the Lakers, on top of the purple and gold falling behind 3-0 in the series. And, predictably and rightly, Lakers fans were pretty upset about it at the end of Thursday’s game.
A "Fire Darvin!" chant has broken out from a segment of the crowd.
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) April 26, 2024
Darvin Ham has been the lightning rod for Lakers fans this season with much of their animosity directed at him. While it has been over the top at times this season, Darvin has also done little to help himself from the criticism as well. The easiest current example is how badly the Lakers have played in the second half of games in this series.
Since the NBA went to all best-of-7 series beginning in 2003, there have been 90 instances of a team holding a double-digit lead in each of the first 3 games of a playoff series.
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) April 26, 2024
This year's Lakers are the only ones to be down 3-0.
Anthony Davis’ recent comments that the Lakers “don’t know what they’re doing” at times on the court certainly did not detract from those criticisms. Ham himself pushed back on the comments from AD and the Lakers as a whole weren’t thrilled with AD’s comments, but it made Davis a very public face, right or wrong, for the displeasure Lakers fans have for Ham.
The fans’ animosity on Thursday wasn’t solely directed at Ham, though. D’Angelo Russell was also the focus of some ire, as he finished 0-7 from the field and 0-6 from the 3-point line in 24 minutes.
D’Angelo Russell is getting boo’d by the Laker fans. pic.twitter.com/7AggBQ7GJH
— Lakers All Day Everyday (@LADEig) April 26, 2024
Emotions are certainly running high as the Lakers are set to be swept out of the playoffs for a second straight season by the same team. It’s not a pleasant feeling and frustrations should be coming to the surface.
With another game on Saturday, it could be a very interesting scene. Last year, the Lakers went down with a fight, led by LeBron James, who played effectively the entire game. This season, if the Lakers let go of the rope the way they did in Game 3, things could get ugly with the fans clearly frustrated.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.