Clippers’ Ty Lue Says Criticism of Lakers’ Darvin Ham Is ‘Definitely Unfair’

The Los Angeles head basketball coaches appear to have each other’s backs.

When asked about criticism being hurled at Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham, Los Angeles Clippers coach Ty Lue called the criticism Ham is facing “definitely unfair” and that he and the Lakers have plenty of time to turn it around.

“People think about X’s and O’s, but it’s more than just X’s and O’s in the NBA and being a coach.” Lue said. “It’s a lot to do with handling different personalities, different egos. There’s a lot that goes into it.”

Lue continued by saying that the Lakers will surely improve when the roster is healthier and projected that it will be a difficult team to contend against down the stretch.

“They just need to get healthy, I think,” Lue said. “And once they get healthy and their rotations down, they can be a tough team to beat and going to be a tough game for us tonight as well.”

These comments came ahead of a cross-city matchup between the Clippers and Lakers, and the Clippers have had a much better start to the season.

The Clippers are 22-12 and are in fourth place in the Western Conference. The Lakers, meanwhile, have slumped to a 17-19 start and sit in 11th in the conference. While there is plenty of time left in the season, it’s still a concerning start for a team that reached the conference finals in the prior season.

The injury presence with the team is certainly a major factor in the lackluster start. The Lakers have seen many players on the roster suffer from various levels of injuries, including LeBron James, Anthony Davis and D’Angelo Russell. Regardless of severity, it still impacts the play on the court and can explain some of the issues.

A healthy stretch could easily lead to a winning streak but more injuries could also lead to more issues.