Los Angeles Lakers guard D'Angelo Russell was fined $25,000 for verbally abusing a game official. The incident took place after the Los Angeles Lakers loss to the Denver Nuggets in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series.

LeBron James is widely expected to return to the Los Angeles Lakers next season though he has decisions to make on how much longer he wants to continue playing and whether he prefers to finish his career with the franchise.

James has a $51 million player option for 24-25 with the Lakers. James is expected to become a free agent and re-sign some type of multi-year deal and possibly seek a no-trade clause. James can only get a no-trade clause by becoming a free agent and can't do so as part of an extension.

"I think the expectation is that in one shape or another, LeBron James will be back with this Lakers' team," said Adrian Wojnarowski. "It probably includes declining that player option and doing a new deal. Whether that's a one-year deal or a two-year deal, however they want to structure it. I think there's a working expectation that he's back, but things can change. He can make a different decision later."

Both the Golden State Warriors and Philadelphia 76ers had interest in LeBron James ahead of this year's trade deadline. 

The Los Angeles Clippers would like to retain Tyronn Lue on a long-term contract and it is unlikely a scenario would manifest that would allow him to become head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers.

"I don't believe it is realistic based on this: Ty Lue still has a year left on his contract," said Adrian Wojnarowski. And the Clippers are determined to a long-term deal with Ty Lue, I'm told. They want him to be their head coach for a very long time. That is a conversation that will happen after the playoffs are over, but they love the job he did this season. They love the job he's done there.

"This is an organization by all indications, however this series ends up, wants to re-sign Paul George, James Harden. Try to improve this roster around those two and Kawhi Leonard. And Ty Lue will still be the head coach for them."

The Lakers previously offered Lue their head coaching job in 2019, but were unable to agree to contract terms.

The Los Angeles Lakers have Mike Budenholzer, Kenny Atkinson, JJ Redick and Tyronn Lue on their list of possible candidates for their head coaching vacancy. Charles Lee is also a possible candidate for the job.

The Milwaukee Bucks parted ways with Budenholzer after the 22-23 season, two years after the team won The Finals. Budenholzer did not coach during the 23-24 season following his dismissal.

Atkinson has most recently been an assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors. In 2022, he accepted an offer to become the head coach of the Charlotte Hornets and then backed out of the deal. Atkinson was previously a head coach with the Brooklyn Nets.

Redick has inteviewed for head coaching positions previously with the Toronto Raptors and Charlotte Hornets. Redick is currently one of ESPN's lead game analysts and also has a podcast with LeBron James.

Lue is under contract with the Los Angeles Clippers for the 24-25 season as they open up their new arena. 

Lee has been a head coaching candidate over the past few cycles and is currently an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics. 

The Los Angeles Lakers have parted ways with Darvin Ham as head coach after two seasons with the franchise.

Ham guided the Lakers to the Western Conference in his first season. In Year 2, the Lakers won the In-Season Tournament and lost to the Denver Nuggets in the first round. The Lakers went 90-74 during the regular season with Ham.

Ham had two seasons remaining on his contract at approximately $5 million per year.

The Lakers previously fired Frank Vogel after three seasons with the club.

The Los Angeles Lakers could have interest in both J.J. Redick and Tyron Lue as their next head coach.

Redick recently launched a podcast with LeBron James and has also been considered as a head coach candidate for the Toronto Raptors last offseason and the Charlotte Hornets this year. Redick is also currently a lead game analyst for ESPN.

"J.J. is certainly a real candidate if they do open up this coaching search," said Dave McMenamin on the Dan Patrick Show. "There's I'd say half a dozen folks out there, including possibly Tyronn Lue. There are several viable candidates who will get an interview."

Lue is under contract with the Los Angeles Clippers for the 24-25 season. Lue was a candidate for the Lakers in 2019, but they ultimately hired Frank Vogel. Lue became an assistant coach with the Clippers under Doc Rivers before replacing him after the 19-20 season.

The Los Angeles Lakers are expected to part ways with Darvin Ham in the near future, according to Jovan Buha of The Athletic.

Ham was hired by the Lakers in 2022 to replace Frank Vogel.

"My sense is nothing has changed on that front in terms of the Lakers' plans. As we reported, the Lakers wanted to do their due diligence over the 24 to 72 hours or so after being eliminated. And really just think it over, make sure they were not making a rash decision.

"I think they caught a lot of flak for how the Frank Vogel situation happened where he was essentially fired at the buzzer and had to do a press conference with us and he was asked about it. It was just a really awkward situation. The Lakers didn't formally announce it until the next morning and then tried to say that was how it all played out."

The Lakers conducted their exit interviews immediately after their loss to the Denver Nuggets on Monday, but Rob Pelinka has yet to address the media.

"The latest I've heard is the plan is still to move on from Darvin at some point, likely by the end of the week. Potentially as early as [Thursday]. Then, the head coaching search will start. I've already started to hear some names from different people... From what I've heard over the last couple of days, the plan is still to move on from Darvin.

Game 5 between the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets averaged 4.53 million viewers across TNT and truTV.

The series has delivered four out of the seven most-watched games in the first round.

The Celtics-Heat lead in with 3.01 million viewers.

The first round was averaging 3.1 million viewers through Sunday.

There's been a lot made about LeBron James desire to play with his son Bronny in the NBA. The elder James once said that was a goal of his before his career ends. Now, it seems like both father and son, and their representatives, are focused on each having success independently.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that after conversations with Rich Paul, he no longer believes that LeBron James is insisting he has to play with Bronny.

"The idea of them playing together is not a priority, it's not foremost, at least any longer, in LeBron James' mind," Wojnarowski reported.

That seems to indicate that LeBron James and his agent Rich Paul will do what's best for him without forcing a team to draft his son in the 2024 NBA Draft.

As for Bronny James, the priority is to get him in the best situation for his own development.

"Rich Paul's goal here in the pre-draft process for Bronny James is to see if there's the right developmental system or organization, a place that can take a young player like Bronny James, who went five months without playing after his heart episode certainly limited him in his season at USC," Wojnarowski said. "If he does go in the draft, he very likely would spend next year in the G League."