Charles Barkley defends Darvin Ham: 'Lakers suck because of the players'

Charles Barkley is tired of everyone making Darvin Ham the fall guy for the Lakers' first-round loss to the Nuggets. The Hall of Famer believes the lion's share of the blame must go to the players and the front office that put together the roster.

"A lot of these people on television are cowards," Barkley fumed on Wednesday's "Inside the NBA" on TNT. "Because they want the players to like them. They don't want to do their job, which is to tell the truth. Anybody who thinks the reason the Lakers suck is because of Darvin Ham, or that the Suns suck because of Frank Vogel — you don't know what you're talking about. Darvin Ham is a hell of a coach trying to get his career started. The Lakers and Suns suck because of the players. It has nothing to do with the coaches. Whoever put those trash a— teams need to get fired."

Ham hasn't received much support in the media, but his peers have had his back. After the Nuggets bounced the Lakers out of the playoffs, Michael Malone spoke glowingly about Ham, stating that it would be unfortunate if his fellow coach lost his job.

According to multiple NBA insiders, Ham is set to be replaced as Lakers coach heading into the 2024-25 season.