The Boston Celtics stole home-court advantage with their impressive win against the Golden State Warriors in Game 1 of the NBA Finals – but it is a long series, and both teams have some adjustments to make.

In the Celtics' 120-108 victory, Jayson Tatum did not shoot the ball well (three-of-17 from the field), but made up for it with his playmaking, dishing a career-high 13 assists to take advantage of an outlier shooting performance from the rest of his team.

For the Warriors, a dynamic 38-24 third period had them leading by 12 heading into the last, before a fourth-quarter bombardment saw a 103-100 lead turn into a 117-103 deficit courtesy of a 17-0 run.

Stephen Curry was spectacular, with 21 points and a Finals-record six three-pointers in just the first quarter, going on to finish with 34 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals.

With Game 2 scheduled for Sunday night, here is one key adjustment we could see from both teams as the series progresses, and a storyline to watch.

Warriors play no more than one big at a time

When the Warriors were at the peak of their dynasty, Draymond Green would play center, surrounded by four perimeter players.

Due to his excellent play this postseason – as well as playing all 82 regular season games, starting 80 – center Kevon Looney has earned a significant playoff role. 

He was the difference-maker when trusted with an extended run in his side's Game 6 closeout against the Memphis Grizzlies, collecting 22 rebounds, and he was terrific against a Dallas Mavericks side lacking a true center, averaging 10.6 points, 10.6 rebounds and three assists per game for the series.

To put the blame of the Game 1 loss on Looney is simply wrong. He was not just serviceable, he was good, with nine rebounds, five assists and three blocks in his 25 minutes – but the Warriors are simply not the same beast on the offensive end when he and Green are on the floor at the same time.

However, this does not mean they must bench Looney, but instead the Warriors may be forced into some difficult conversations about the effectiveness of Green in this series.

Green is no longer the explosive athlete he was at the peak of his powers – when he was clearly the best defensive player in the NBA – and without that athleticism he begins to feel like the 6'6 center that he is.

Calling him a non-factor on the offensive end is disrespectful due to his incredible basketball IQ and the value he adds with his ball-movement, passing and screening – but these are areas Looney has quietly excelled in as well.

Looney, significantly bigger at 6'9, matched Green with five assists, showing plenty of similar reads and the ability to function in a largely similar role on the offensive end. He also grabbed six offensive rebounds, providing serious tangible value in the form of extra possessions, while also being the Warriors' only real rim protector.

Green will likely not shoot two-of-12 from the field again – missing all four of his three-point attempts and all three of his free throws – but if he is weighing you down offensively while not bringing his once-outlier defensive ability, it just may be a Looney series against the real size of Al Horford and Robert Williams III.

The New York Rangers held serve at home against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday, holding on for a 3-2 win to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals.

It was the Lightning who struck first, with Nikita Kucherov taking advantage of an early power play to put the reigning back-to-back Stanley Cup champions ahead 1-0 less than three minutes in.

But the lead would be short-lived, with K'Andre Miller squaring the ledger less than five minutes later, before Kaapo Kakko gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead heading into the second period.

In a clash between arguably the two greatest goaltenders in the game – New York's Igor Shesterkin and Tampa Bay's Andrei Vasilevskiy – the second period was a 20-minute scoreless stalemate, setting up a thrilling third frame.

However, much of the drama was sucked out of the contest when New York's Mika Zibanejad gave the Rangers a 3-1 buffer just two minutes into the period, and Shesterkin was determined to see it out.

A late Nicholas Paul goal set up a frantic final two minutes, but the Rangers' defense held firm, securing the win.

With the win, the Rangers snapped a streak of 17 consecutive Lightning wins following a playoff loss, with their last back-to-back playoff losses coming in April, 2019.

Speaking to the media after the win, Rangers defenseman Adam Fox – who had two assists – said his side are good at playing spoiler.

"We heard all year that [we weren't] really going to have playoff success," he said. 

"We’ve said it all year, the belief in the room is high and the outside opinions isn’t really affecting anyone. 

"Coming from down 3-1 [against the Pittsburgh Penguins], down 2-0 [against the Carolina Hurricanes] and [the Lightning] obviously had a good playoff streak of not losing back-to-back games, but that’s not really in our minds coming into the games.

"We're not thinking about what streaks teams have or how they've done earlier. It's right now, and we're just trying to bring it day in and day out.

"We did a great job limiting them, especially in the first two periods. We didn't make too many mistakes… [and] when we needed those big saves, we got them at the end, as usual."

Rangers coach Gerard Gallant called it "a huge win".

"It's a huge win for us, but we just get ready for the next one," he said. 

"The way we played the last two games, that's the way we're going to have to play to win the series. We want to battle hard, we want to compete hard and we've been a tough out so far.

"We knew they were going to push real hard... [but] we battled, we found a way. We're playing against a real good team over there. They pushed it, we made some key saves at the end."

Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said his side was punished for their mistakes, but he hopes they will carry some momentum into the next fixture back in Tampa Bay after dominating the last 15 minutes.

"We haven’t executed the proper way that got us here," he said. 

"They are a skilled team and make you pay. We found some momentum at the end – we have to carry that over."

The best team in baseball put on a show for their home fans on Friday as the New York Yankees hammered the Detroit Tigers 13-0.

The Yankees did it with bat and ball, with ace pitcher Gerrit Cole taking a perfect game into the seventh inning before it was finally broken up by a Jonathan Schoop single.

Cole finished with nine strikeouts, no walks and just two hits in seven full innings, while with the bat the Yankees hit four big home runs.

After a couple of scoreless innings to begin the game, Jose Trevino got things started with a 405-foot homer in the third inning, with MVP candidate Aaron Judge knocking his own 378-footer just three batters later to make it 2-0.

Trevino stayed hot with a two-run triple in the fourth inning, before Anthony Rizzo crushed the biggest hit of the game with a three-run, 430-foot home run to right-field to make it 8-0 in the fifth.

Recent signing Matt Carpenter got in on the fun as well, hitting a 386-foot blast later in the fifth inning. For Carpenter, it was his fourth home run for the Yankees in just seven appearances.

Judge finished with four hits from five at-bats, and the home run was his 20th of the season. Nobody else in the majors has more than Mookie Betts' 16.

Machado shows MVP power

In a battle between the National League's top MVP and Cy Young candidates, San Diego Padres slugger Manny Machado got the better of Milwaukee Brewers ace Corbin Burnes in a 7-0 win.

With the Padres leading 2-0 in the fourth inning, Machado put his stamp on the game by taking Burnes deep, connecting on a three-run home run to make it 5-0 and signal the end of Burnes' night, getting pulled just two batters later.

Joe Musgrove was the real star for the Padres, though, taking a no-hitter into the eighth inning before it was finally broken up. He finished with six strikeouts in eight innings, giving up one hit and three walks.

Twins order homers with extra Garlick

Jose Miranda and Kyle Garlick hit two home runs each for the Minnesota Twins in their 9-3 away win against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Garlick hit his first as the third batter of the game, giving the Twins a 2-0 lead in the first inning, and as soon as the Blue Jays were able to tie it back up, it was Miranda's turn, putting Minnesota back up 3-2 in the second frame.

Garlick's second came in the third inning, with Toronto's Vladimir Guerrero answering in the same frame, before Miranda finally gave the Twins some breathing room with his two-run blast in the sixth, pulling ahead 6-3 to grab a winning buffer.

Australian Minjee Lee and American Mina Harigae are tied for the lead at nine under after two rounds of the U.S. Women's Open played at Pine Needles.

Harigae was tied for the lead after Thursday's first round, and followed it up her 64 with a solid 69, while Lee posted a 67 on Thursday and then followed it with Friday's second-best round of the day, shooting a 66.

The actual round of the day went to South Korea's Choi Hye-jin, who shot a seven-under 64 after entering the day at even par to sit in a tie for third heading into the weekend.

She is tied two shots back from the lead at seven under with Sweden's Anna Nordqvist, one shot ahead of fellow Swede, amateur Ingrid Lindblad, who posted a one under score on Friday after setting the U.S. Women's Open record for lowest score by an amateur with her opening round 65.

Lindblad is tied with world number one Ko Jin-young at six under, with South Korea's Kim Sei-young and Thailand's Moriya Jatanugarn one stroke back at five under.

Rounding out the top-10 are the American trio of Ryann O'Toole, Megan Khang and Andrea Lee, along with England's Bronte Law and South Korea's Park Sung-hyun, tied for ninth at four under.

Cameron Smith continued his strong start to the Memorial Tournament on Friday, sitting alone atop the leaderboard on eight under after being one of three players to shoot under 70 on back-to-back days.

The Australian was in a six-way tie for the lead after round one, and pushed on well his second time around, finishing with just one bogey – on the sixth hole – which was sandwiched by birdies on the fifth and seventh.

Smith then birdied the par-five 11th, and the par-three 12th, showing his impressive touch over long and short distances, but where he really made his money was around the greens.

According to Data Golf, Smith had negative strokes-gained off the tee and with his approach shots in round two, but was second overall in strokes-gained around the greens (plus 3.55), trailing only Beau Hossler (plus 4.25). They gapped the field, with nobody else gaining more than plus 2.83 in that shot category.

Sitting one stroke off the lead is American Denny McCarthy and South Korea's Lee Kyoung-hoon, while one stroke further back at six under are round one's joint-leaders Davis Riley, Cameron Young and Luke List, along with Jhonattan Vegas and Billy Horschel.

McCarthy and Vegas joined Smith as the only players to shoot sub-70 in the opening two rounds.

Rory McIlroy headlines the group at five under in a tie for ninth, along with Francesco Molinari, still well within striking distance heading into the weekend.

A strong international group is at four under, including Canada's Mackenzie Hughes, Chile's Joaquin Niemann and South Korea's Im Sung-jae, and they are one stroke ahead of Ireland's Shane Lowry, Mexico's Abraham Ancer and American Will Zalatoris.

Jon Rahm and Corey Conners will still feel like they have a chance at two under, Max Homa and Xander Schauffele finished well inside the cut-line at one under, and Jordan Spieth shot a disappointing 74 on Friday to take an even par score into the weekend.

England's Aaron Rai – who was number one in strokes-gained off the tee on Friday – along with Australian Adam Scott finished right on the cut-line, making it through at two over, but Matt Fitzpatrick (three over) and Collin Morikawa (four over) were not so lucky.

Casper Ruud knows he will have to play his "best tennis ever" if he is to have "any chance" against his idol Rafael Nadal in the French Open final.

Ruud defeated Marin Cilic 3-6 6-4 6-2 6-2 in his semi-final on Friday to join Nadal in the Roland Garros decider.

This will be Ruud's first grand slam final, while Nadal is preparing for his 30th – and 14th in Paris alone.

Each of the previous 13 on the red clay have ended in Nadal wins, and his opponent is well aware of the task before him.

"To play Rafa in a Roland Garros final is probably the greatest challenge there is in this sport," Ruud said. "I believe he's 13-0 in the finals, so that just shows that it might sound like an impossible task.

"But of course I will give it a shot like the other 13 people before me have done.

"It's obviously going to be tough. We all know what a great champion he is and how well he plays in the biggest moments and the biggest matches. I'm just going to try to enjoy it.

"I will be the underdog, and I will try to tonight and tomorrow night dream about great winners and unbelievable rallies, because that's what it's going to take if I want to have any chance, and I will need to play my best tennis ever.

"But I still have to believe that I can do it, and I think part of my game today was working very well. In the end, I was playing great in the third and fourth set."

Ruud is not shying away from the challenge, even if he is happy simply to join the likes of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in playing Nadal in a final, describing it as "something I can always brag about after my career".

He added: "It would be nicer to be able to brag about the title as well after my career."

Ruud has never played Nadal on the ATP Tour, but that does not mean this is their first meeting, as the Norwegian was part of the Rafa Nadal Academy.

The pair have faced one another in private – not that those encounters can offer Ruud much encouragement.

"He pretty much has always beaten me," he said. "There's been some close sets, 7-6, 7-5, but it always goes his favour.

"But it's because we are playing in the academy and I want to be nice to him..."

At the end of a week in which Amelie Mauresmo said there is "more attraction and appeal" in the modern men's game, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff get a showpiece stage to show the rising stars of the WTA Tour can be box office too.

Former women's number one Mauresmo, who is now tournament director at the French Open, sparked upset for many when she explained why nine out of 10 evening session matches at Roland Garros were men's clashes.

The lone exception was the second-round match between France's Alize Cornet and Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko, but on Saturday the women are at the heart of the action as world number one Swiatek, on a 34-match winning streak, tackles the exceptional American Gauff, the youngest Roland Garros finalist since Kim Clijsters 20 years ago.

Saturday's title contenders have a combined age of 39 – Swiatek turned 21 this week and Gauff is 18 – making it the 'youngest' Roland Garros final since 19-year-old Iva Majoli stunned 16-year-old favourite Martina Hingis in the 1997 trophy match.

The only grand slam final in the 21st century to feature two players with a lower combined age than the Swiatek-Gauff pairing was last year's US Open trophy match between Emma Raducanu and Leylah Fernandez.

Both have plenty to gain, with heavy favourite Swiatek arguably having the most to lose. Ahead of their showdown, Stats Perform looks at two players who belong in the spotlight, day or night.

Super Swiatek will be hard to stop

In terms of the head-to-head between these two, we are in the early stages. While Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have fought out an epochal 59-match rivalry on the men's tour, this is just meeting number three between Swiatek and Gauff, with Swiatek winning both to date, including a 6-3 6-1 trouncing in Miami in March.

Swiatek would become just the fifth top seed in 25 years to triumph in the women's singles if she gets the job done. She triumphed in 2020 when ranked a lowly 54th and as a relative unknown.

If she gets the win and improves to 9-1 in singles finals across her career, Swiatek will achieve the longest streak of victories on the women's tour since Venus Williams also strung together 35 in 2000. The young Polish player would also become the youngest winner of two or more grand slams since Maria Sharapova, at 19, added the 2006 US Open title to the Wimbledon crown she secured as a 17-year-old.

Swiatek has won 15 matches in a row on clay, the most consecutive successes by a WTA Tour player since Serena Williams strung together 20 from 2015 to 2016.

The AC/DC and Led Zeppelin fan had won five consecutive titles leading into this fortnight (Doha, Indian Wells, Miami, Stuttgart and Rome) and can become the first woman to land six in a row since Justine Henin reeled off victories in Toronto, at the US Open, Stuttgart, Zurich, the WTA Finals, and Sydney in the latter months of 2007 and beginning of 2008.

Gauff's moment arrives

She was Wimbledon's youngest qualifier of the Open Era in 2019, and ever since that breakthrough moment Gauff has stood out as a player and person of increasingly great stature.

A mature, wise head on her shoulders has seen Gauff make powerful statements on important matters such as police brutality, LGBTQ rights and gun violence, and at the same time her tennis continues to dazzle.

She has been as high as number 15 in the world and is heading towards a low single-digit ranking very soon. In Paris this fortnight, Gauff has yet to drop a set, unlike Swiatek, who lost one to the impressive qualifier Zheng Qinwen in the quarter-finals.

So here's the skinny: Gauff, at 18 years and 84 days, will be the youngest women's grand slam singles finalist since Sharapova at Wimbledon in 2004; she has broken serve 35 times in six matches at this edition of Roland Garros; she is through to the doubles final too, with Jessica Pegula.

She is the third American woman aged under 19 to reach this French Open final, after Chris Evert in 1973 and Andrea Jaeger in 1982, and among all WTA players, only Monica Seles, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario and Steffi Graf have taken the title at a younger age in Paris during the Open Era.

Gauff has such self-belief she will know the number one can be toppled, as history has told us. Since November 1975, when computer rankings were introduced on the women's tour, four teenagers have beaten the WTA number one player in the French Open final.

Should Gauff pull off the shock on Saturday, she will be following in the footsteps of Graf (beat Navratilova, 1987), Sanchez-Vicario (beat Graf, 1989), Monica Seles (beat Graf, 1990) and Majoli (beat Hingis, 1997).

There is a growing sense that, like Swiatek, Gauff will eventually be remembered in the company of such luminaries, and now she has to go out and prove it.

Seven-time French Open winner Evert this week called it "destiny", adding on Twitter: "We saw greatness 3 summers ago. We've all been waiting for this!"

The Houston Astros and Yordan Alvarez have agreed to a six-year, $115million extension that will keep the 2019 American League Rookie of the Year under team control through 2028, according to multiple reports.

MLB.com reports the deal will pay Alvarez $7m in 2023, $10m in 2024, $15m in 2025 and $26m per season over the final three years of the contract. It also contains a $5m signing bonus.

The contract, which ESPN reports to be the largest ever for a player primarily used as a designated hitter, encompasses all of Alvarez's arbitration-eligible seasons as well as his first three years of free agency.

It is also the fifth-largest extension in MLB history for a player yet to reach arbitration, behind Fernando Tatis Jr. (14 years, $340m), Wander Franco (11 years, $182m), Buster Posey (eight years, $159m) and Mike Trout (six years, $144.5m).

Alvarez earned the large payday by emerging among the game's premier power hitters since breaking into the majors in June 2019. The 24-year-old has produced a .287 average with 75 home runs, 217 RBIs and a .947 OPS over 278 career games.

The Cuba native enters Friday's play second in the AL with 14 homers, fifth in slugging percentage (.574), sixth in OPS (.941) and eighth in RBIs (31).

Alvarez set a major league rookie record by amassing a 1.067 OPS while batting .313 with 27 homers and 78 RBIs in just 87 games to be named the AL's top newcomer in 2019.

After knee surgeries limited him to only two games in the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign, he bounced back to record 33 homers and 104 RBIs in 2021 and was voted MVP of the AL Championship Series after leading Houston past the Boston Red Sox for a spot in last year's World Series.

Alvarez joins 2017 AL MVP Jose Altuve, third baseman Alex Bregman and starting pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. as core players the Astros have signed to large multi-year contracts in recent years.

Houston were unable to retain two other key contributors to their 2017 world championship run, as outfielder George Springer signed with Toronto following the 2020 season and shortstop Carlos Correa signed with Minnesota this past offseason.

Casper Ruud weathered an early storm as he saw off Marin Cilic and set up a shot at Rafael Nadal in the French Open final.

The Norwegian has this week become the first man from his country to reach a grand slam quarter-final, then he bettered that by advancing to the semi-finals, and now the final beckons after a 3-6 6-4 6-2 6-2 triumph.

A clay-court specialist, who has more match wins, finals and titles among ATP Tour players than anyone else since the start of the 2020 season, Ruud showed the expertise that could make him a handful for 13-time champion Nadal on Sunday. Ruud describes Nadal as his "idol".

This match was interrupted during the third set by a climate change activist who fastened herself to the net, but Ruud, who had forged ahead in the set, kept his head in the trying circumstances.

Cilic had made a strong start, but the 33-year-old Croatian's assault became less threatening as Ruud got a grip on proceedings. At 5-4 ahead in the second set, Ruud fell 0-40 behind on serve but retrieved that precarious situation in style, sealing the game and levelling the match with a marvellous backhand winner down the line.

Suddenly erratic, Cilic missed a routine smash to give Ruud a break point at the start of the third set, and although the server saved that one, another misfired overhead from the Croatian meant the game slipped away.

A delicious floated low backhand across court and out of Cilic's reach gave Ruud a double break, and he was not knocked out of his stride by the intervention of the activist, with the players briefly led off court.

The man from Oslo wrapped up the third and tore through the fourth set, serving out to love at the first time of asking, and now the ultimate challenge awaits.

Data slam: Ruud racing through the rounds

Ruud has become the first man since Sweden's Robin Soderling in 2009 to reach his first Roland Garros fourth round, quarter-final, semi-final and final in the same year. Soderling lost in straight sets to Nadal in the final.

WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS

Ruud – 41/21
Cilic – 51/56

ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS

Ruud – 16/0
Cilic – 10/2

BREAK POINTS WON/LOST

Ruud – 5/15
Cilic – 2/9

A female climate change activist chained herself to the net on Court Philippe-Chatrier during the French Open semi-final between Marin Cilic and Casper Ruud.

The woman, who identified herself online as a 22-year-old named Alizee, came from the stands during the third set.

She wore a T-shirt bearing the slogan "We have 1028 days left".

The shirt also carried the web address of the Derniere Renovation organisation, which is aligned to similar groups worldwide.

That website portrayed the woman on its front page, with the headline: "A citizen disrupts the semi-final of Roland Garros."

That was confirmation it was a pre-planned exercise, with the woman quoted as saying: "We are in 2022 and it is time to look at the reality in the face, the world to which politicians are sending us is a world to which Roland Garros will not be able to exist.

"Today, I went onto the court because I can't take the risk any more of not doing anything in the face of the climate emergency."

The group's website urged the French government to take action, saying it had sent it an ultimatum, declaring citizens had "entered into civil resistance".

"France has been condemned by its own courts for climate inaction. The future of this country is literally destroyed. To waste time is to perish," the group added.

The incident was an embarrassment to French Open organisers, with security inside the main show court unable to prevent the woman marching out onto the court and locking herself to the net.

Play was interrupted with the players briefly taken off court, before the woman was removed from the court by four security men and the match resumed.

Rafael Nadal says battling through the pain of his foot injury makes reaching his 14th French Open final even more enjoyable.

Nadal missed a part of the 2021 season with a foot problem that has hampered him throughout most of his career, but returned to win the Australian Open in January.

That made him a 21-time grand slam winner, a record in men's tennis, and he now aims for his 22nd major at Roland Garros – a venue where he is a 14-time champion.

Casper Ruud or Marin Cilic will be the Spaniard's opponent in Sunday's final in Paris, after Alexander Zverev retired almost two sets into a gruelling semi-final on Court Philippe-Chatrier against Nadal on Friday.

The 36-year-old, who celebrated his birthday with semi-final victory, was quick to express his well wishes for Zverev both on the court and later in a news conference, with the German suffering an ankle injury.

Nadal is the third player in the Open era to reach 30 or more grand slam finals, after Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic (both 31), and he believes playing through the pain has been worth it.

"I explained everything going through my mind after Rome, and nothing changed," Nadal told reporters. "At the same time, I was not very positive after that about my foot, but I was positive that I will be able to play here.

"I played, I fought I did all the things possible to give myself at least a chance to be where I am and happy of course to be able to give myself another chance to play here in the final of Roland Garros.

"That means a lot to me. All the sacrifices and all the things that I need to go through to try to keep playing, really makes sense when you enjoy moments like I'm enjoying in this tournament.

"If you like what you are doing, you keep going. If you like to go and play golf, you keep going to play golf. If I like to play tennis and if I can and I can handle to keep playing, I keep playing because I like what I do.

"If I am healthy enough to play, I like the competition. I like to play in the best stadiums in the world and feel competitive at my age still.

"That makes me feel in some way proud and happy about all the work that we did."

Nadal led Zverev 7-6 (10-8) 6-6 before the world number three had to retire, though the encounter had lasted for over three hours by that point.

It was the third time in as many matches that Nadal has toiled on the clay in Paris, having overcome Djokovic in four sets after defeating Felix Auger-Aliassime in a five-set thriller.

Nevertheless, Nadal assures he is fit and fighting in preparation for the showpiece as he aims for a 14th French Open triumph.

"Physically I'm okay. Normally my problem is not the physical performance," he added. "Of course today the conditions have been very hot, super humid.

"I know from experience that when these conditions happen, I suffer a bit more physically. It happened to me in Australia against [Denis] Shapovalov.

"Today was different, not that crazy but I was suffering. There was a lot of up-and-downs during the match, but a good level of tennis with great points."

Los Angeles Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka identified Darvin Ham's "no-nonsense and hard-working approach" as key, as he was confirmed as the team's head coach on Friday.

A week after reports emerged of Ham's imminent appointment at Crypto.com Arena, the Lakers officially welcomed their new coach.

Ham previously worked under Mike Brown as an assistant on the Lakers between 2011 and 2013, and he returns to the team from the Milwaukee Bucks.

The 48-year-old – whose only previous head coaching job was with the New Mexico Thunderbirds, now the Cleveland Charge – followed Mike Budenholzer from the Atlanta Hawks to Milwaukee in 2018.

He was part of the staff that helped the Bucks to win their second NBA championship in 2021, adding to a sole success as a player on the 2004 Detroit Pistons.

Now, Ham will be leading the Lakers, looking to improve on a hugely underwhelming season in which the team failed to qualify for the playoffs.

LeBron James is ageing, Anthony Davis has endured injury issues, and the signing of Russell Westbrook as a third superstar was not a success.

James was enthused by reports of Ham's arrival, though, and Pelinka is also looking forward to seeing his latest hire get to work.

"When someone begins his NBA coaching career at the G League level and goes all the way through playing an integral role on the front bench of an NBA championship team, it really speaks to a certain strength of character," Pelinka said.

"Our players and fans will immediately identify with Darvin's no-nonsense and hard-working approach, which we feel will bring toughness and a competitive edge to all we do.

"When you add that to Darvin's sophisticated grasp of in-game strategy and deep knowledge of the game of basketball, we have the ideal coach for this next chapter in Lakers history.

"We could not be more honoured and proud to name Darvin Ham as our new head coach."

Ham is set to meet the media for the first time as Lakers coach on Monday, when potential offseason trades for Westbrook and his significant salary are sure to be a topic of discussion.