11-Time All-Star & Hall of Famer Shreds Lakers Following Darvin Ham Hire

The Los Angeles Lakers interviewed several candidates and Darvin Ham got the job. He doesn’t have head coaching experience, but he may be the best option for the purple and gold. Magic Johnson and LeBron James are fans. Coaching LeBron is a big deal and maybe his hiring will lead the Lakers to a title.

Guess what… Charles Barkley is not a fan. He doesn’t like the fact that the Lakers hired someone who is close to the same age as their players.

“Well, I’m glad Darvin got an opportunity cuz he’s paid his dues,” Barkley told Dan Patrick on the Dan Patrick Show. “He’s a nice guy. We’ll have to see what kind of coach he is, but listen, if one of your coaches is close to the same age as your players, your team not gonna be any good anyway. I mean the Lakers, they got a serious dilemma on their hands. I mean, their best player is gonna be 40. You know, Anthony Davis has never been healthy. You know, obviously, Russ is gonna be there one more year.

“So what’s really bad about the situation, next year is gonna be the same as this year and then LeBron just gonna be a year older and then they’ll have Russ off the books, but LeBron’s gonna be a year older and Anthony, you know, I said last year coming into the season I’m not worried about LeBron or anybody else. If the Lakers is gonna be any good, it’s gonna have to be Anthony Davis. I said if he’s one of the top five players in the NBA, the Lakers can compete cuz you can’t be asking a 38-year-old guy to be your best player.”

The Lakers got Darvin Ham for a reason

Barkley made it awkward. Some would support his comments, because yes, LeBron is 37.

Ham has accepted a big challenge. The Lakers are coming off of a bad season. They didn’t even make the play-in tournament. Players sustained serious injuries and missed big chunk of the season. LeBron and Anthony Davis were supposed to lead the team to a big win, but they struggled to stay healthy.

Russell Westbrook is still an issue. How will Ham handle his situation in LA? Adrian Wojnarowski from ESPN discussed Ham’s potential plan for Brodie. Head coaching candidates received the same question.

“Ham will be charged with returning the Lakers to the postseason after a disastrous 33-49 season that cost Frank Vogel his job. One of Ham’s most important directives: finding a way to incorporate future Hall of Fame guard Russell Westbrook into the franchise’s framework with LeBron James and Anthony Davis,” Wojnarowski reported. “It was a significant subject of every Lakers coaching interview in the process, sources said.”