Finally, the Los Angeles Lakers addressed one of their biggest needs ahead of the upcoming NBA season. Darvin Ham will take the reins of their projects and replace Frank Vogel as their head coach.
Ham built a strong reputation around the league as one of the best assistant coaches available. So, even though he doesn't have any previous experience as the main guy, he still deserved a shot at the gig.
Nonetheless, Charles Barkley isn't so sure about that. While he thinks Ham is a great guy and he earned that right, he doesn't think he'll be able to make a big difference in such a veteran locker room.
NBA News: Charles Barkley Praises Darvin Ham, Says He Won't Make A Difference Anyway
“Well, I’m glad Darvin got an opportunity ’cause he’s paid his dues,” Barkley said. “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. The Lakers, they got a serious dilemma on their hands."
"Their best player’s gonna be 40," Barkley added. "Anthony Davis has never been healthy. Obviously, Russ (Russell Westbrook) 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 [James] just gonna be a year older, and then they’ll have Russ off the books.”
The Lakers have a veteran-filled roster and they don't have enough financial flexibility to tweak it right now. So, as many moves as they want to make, they'll likely be stuck with the same personnel, more or less.
That could be an issue for a rookie coach trying to make his way into the league, as it wouldn't be the first time we've seen this sort of situation. But hey, there's not much the Lakers can do at this point anyway.
