Charles Barkley doesn’t hold back: “The Lakers, they’re just not a good team, they’re not athletic”

The Los Angeles Lakers put in one of their most impressive performances of the season on Saturday, with Luka Doncic leading the scoring and LeBron James hitting his 1,000th three-pointer as JJ Redick’s team downed the Golden State Warriors 129-101 at Chase Center. But despite the convincing win, ESPN analyst Charles Barkley was far from impressed.

“I get sick of people saying they’re contenders,” Barkley said this weekend. “I’ve been saying it for months. The Lakers, they’re just not a good team.

“I just think it’s funny that the media turned on Luka [Doncic],” the 11-time All-Star continued. “Everything’s Luka’s fault now. I find that hilarious. They’re just not a good team, they’re not athletic. They’re not good defensively… But I guess we’re contractually obligated to talk about them every day on our network now.”

Barkley dismisses Hall of Fame argument

Barkley’s cohosts tried to change his mind by highlighting the Lakers’ “two Hall of Famers” and “two of the top three players to have ever touched a basketball,” both references to LeBron and Doncic. Barkley, though, was not having it.

“100 percent. And they’re still no good,” he protested. “We’re not talking about Hall of Fame! We’re talking about this season.”

When it was suggested that the Lakers received so much - and potentially favorable - media coverage because they are a “marquee franchise,” Barkley responded with skepticism about their playoff chances.

“They are a marquee franchise. And they are gonna be a marquee franchise about another 20 games, then the nightmare is gonna be over!”

Lakers’ playoff hopes under pressure

Prior to beating the Warriors, who were missing Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler, Los Angeles had lost three straight games, a streak that dropped them to sixth place in the Western Conference. Only the top six qualify directly for the postseason, with teams finishing seventh through 10th having to go through the play-in tournament.

With 23 games remaining in the regular season, Doncic and James are cutting it finer than they would like.

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