NBA legend Charles Barkley stepped in to defend Darvin Ham and Frank Vogel, the respective coaches of the Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns, amid rumors that both of them could get fired in the offseason following first-round playoff exits of their teams.
Barkley unleashed on the media for being afraid to criticize players and wanting to be liked by them and instead aiming criticism towards the coaches.
“Part of our job we watch all the games and we watch all the talk shows, a lot of these people on television, they’re cowards because they want the players to like them,” Chuck said on Inside The NBA. “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 suck 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, who want all the players to like y’all, do your damn job. The Lakers suck and the Suns suck because of the players. It has nothing to do with the coaches.”
Barkley point to front offices, who put the teams together, as the ones responsible for the disappointing results.
“Who put them teams together? Them trash ass teams put together need to get fired. They didn’t just all of a sudden suck as coaches. People, who put them teams together they should start packing their stuff,” Barkley concluded.
