inside the nba Host Charles Barkley was not impressed with the Los Angeles Lakers after their 125–122 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. On Saturday morning’s edition of Inside the NBA after the game, Barkley reiterated his old view that the Lakers are not championship contenders and that they will not beat the Thunder and other top teams in the West.
“It depends on the seeding because if they’re six, seven or eight and they have to play Denver, Houston or OKC, they’re not going to be able to beat those teams. I’m not even sure they can beat San Antonio,” Barkley said.
Even before Doncic was traded to the Lakers, the Pro Basketball Hall of Famer turned studio analyst remained consistent in his sentiments regarding the Lakers. He never saw the Lakers as a true contender and his doubts continued throughout the season.
But yesterday the moment was different. As Lakers guard, Austin Reaves, waited to be interviewed by the Inside the NBA crew, he had the headset on as Barkley talked about his team’s prospects. Ernie Johnson asked if Reeves had heard the conversation.
Reeves replied, “Yeah, I heard a little bit. Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion.”
Currently, the Lakers are the fifth seed in the Western Conference after the All-Star break. They are one game ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves and three games ahead of the seventh-seeded Phoenix Suns in the loss column.
This season, the Lakers have wins over Minnesota and San Antonio as well as a Denver team without Nikola Jokic. So far, they have not been able to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Spurs have beaten them three times since their November 5 win.
But the Lakers are on a two-game winning streak and will host the Boston Celtics on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on NBC and Peacock.
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