After the Lakers and Suns were both eliminated from the postseason, the job status of head coaches Darvin Ham and Frank Vogel came into question.
Their respective first-round exits concluded Ham’s second season with Los Angeles and Vogel’s first season with Phoenix. Following the losses, reports surfaced that both individuals could get replaced as the head coach of their franchise for next season.
RELATED: Darvin Ham is ‘highly unlikely’ to return as head coach of the Lakers, per reports. Here is why.
Chuck has something to say when it comes to coaching in the NBA: pic.twitter.com/MnnDZrQr9s
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 2, 2024
This didn’t sit right with TNT’s Charles Barkley, who went on a rant about why the coaches weren’t to blame for either elimination.
Here is what he said:
“A lot of these people on television, they’re cowards. They want the players to like them. They don’t want to do their job, which is to tell the truth. I just want to say this about coaching. Anybody who thinks the Lakers such is because of Darvin Ham or the reason the Suns suck is because of Frank Vogel: You don’t know what you’re talking about. Frank Vogel is a hell of a coach. Darvin Ham is a hell of a coach trying to get his career started. But for all you punks, idiots, and jackasses on other networks who want to be media and want all the players to like ya’ll: Do your damn job. The Lakers suck and the Suns suck because of the players. It has nothing to do with the coaches.”
Barkley concluded that he felt a lot better after his rant, punctuating it by saying that the people who deserve blame are the ones who put these “trash” teams together.
Considering that both coaches may not have power over roster construction, the Inside the NBA co-host is absolutely right in that the major flaws of these teams were likely in the front office.
But a fresh voice in each locker room could potentially change the course of next season and beyond.
