“If one of your coaches is close to the same age as your players, your team not gonna be any good anyway” - Charles Barkley says the LA Lakers have a dilemma on their hands after hiring Darvin Ham

NBA Western Conference powerhouse LA Lakers have come under scrutiny from Charles Barkley for hiring Darvin Ham as their head coach as he believes that his relative lack of experience is going to be a problem.

Appearing on the Dan Patrick Show, former Phoenix Suns superstar Charles Barkley spoke about how he liked the hire of Ham as the next head coach for the LA franchise but questioned how good the team is going to be as Ham is only a couple of years older than some of the players. Barkley said:

"Well, I’m glad Darvin got an opportunity because he’s paid his dues. 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."

Barkley also spoke about how the franchise have a problem with the construction of the roster and the age of their best player LeBron James. Barkley continued:

"The Lakers, they got a serious dilemma on their hands. Their best player’s gonna be 40. Anthony Davis has never been healthy. 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."

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Is Darvin Ham the right man for the LA Lakers?

Milwaukee Bucks star Khris Middleton in conversation with Ham

For starters, the most important player in the team, LeBron James is a massive fan of Darvin Ham and reportedly pushed for him to be the head coach of the team. This alone will hold Ham in good stead when he comes into the locker room.

Ham has worked his fingers to the bone with assistant coaching gigs at franchises like the Milwaukee Bucks and the Atlanta Hawks and was previously with the Lakers, too, from 2011 to 2013. He has risen through the ranks from being a G-League coach to an NBA coach.

Over the last couple of years, Ham has been the lead assistant coach for Mike Budenholzer with the Milwaukee Bucks and has earned a reputation for being a player's coach. As a former player, he can relate to modern NBA players in a much better way.

Having a strong personality is important when you're the head coach at a franchise like the Lakers and being able to develop players is also reportedly one of the key things the franchise was looking at when hiring a head coach as they look to the future.