Charles Barkley Took Vicious Shots At The Lakers (And ESPN Caught A Stray)

“Exasperated” is not a word that Charles Barkley would use, but the tone of his voice sounded exactly like that when he talked about the Los Angeles Lakers this past weekend.

It’s hard to keep track of the Chuckster’s shots at the purple and gold squad. Week in and week out, he has fresh ammunition for LeBron James, Luka Doncic, JJ Redick, and other personnel within the Lakers organization. On Saturday, Barkley took shots at a certain narrative about the Lakers this season.

“I get sick of people talking about them as contenders,” Barkley said prior to the Lakers-Warriors game. “I’ve been saying it for months: The Lakers are not a good team.”

Even as Sir Charles slammed the storied franchise, he also criticized a certain media outlet with a fondness for Lakers coverage. “I guess we’re contractually obligated to talk about them every day like they do in…our network now,” Barkley bemoaned.

That statement from Barkley is loaded with TV history. “Inside the NBA” loyalists will recall that Barkley clowned ESPN on several occasions back when the award-winning show was distributed by Turner Sports. Aside from criticizing the network for overworking and underpaying personalities like Stephen A. Smith, the Chuckster had expressed his displeasure at ESPN’s Lakers-centric analysis from time to time.

Now, “Inside” comes to viewers’ screens via ESPN, and Barkley realizes that he has to do exactly what he was mocking the network for. It appears, however, that no contractual provision can keep Barkley from giving his brutally honest takes on the Lakers, a team that is only one and a half games ahead of the Phoenix Suns for the no. 6 spot in the Western Conference.

To date, the Lakers’ flaws on the defensive end persist: They’re 23rd in defensive rating, and they have struggled with containing both the perimeter and the shaded lane. If they do hold on to the no. 6 spot, they will likely face a tough Denver Nuggets squad led by Nikola Jokic, once again a frontrunner for the MVP award.

If the Lakers are unable to fix their defensive shortcomings in time for the playoffs, Jokic and the Nuggets will take pleasure in eliminating them yet again in the postseason. Now that would give Barkley another reason to holler at the Tinseltown boys.