Charles Barkley makes “crazy” Western Conference prediction
The NBA icon has cast his eye over the best team in the West and has an unlikely pick for the Conference’s second-best team.
Charles Barkley dropped a piping hot take on Thursday’s episode of ‘Inside the NBA’, but it was one that his fellow panellists actually seemed to agree with.
Taking a look at the state of play in the Western Conference, the panel agreed that the Oklahoma City Thunder have been the best team this regular season. However when it comes to the second-best, Barkley looked past the Rockets, Lakers and the Nuggets to make his pick.
“I’m going to say something crazy now,” Barkley began. “The Clippers might be the second-best team in the West.
He continued: “Kawhi Leonard is amazing to me. I’ve never seen a guy who never plays basketball, and comes back like he’s been playing somewhere else. Like he’s been playing overseas.”
The other panellist were quick to point out that the Clippers’ fitness is a key factor in judging their strength. Leonard, in particular, has helped to propel the Clippers into the postseason conversation with with recent performances and head coach Tyronn Lue can claim to be overseeing the league’s most in-form team.
They may be fifth in the Western Conference as it stands, but across the last 15 games the Clippers rank No. 1 for defense and No. 2 for offense across the entire league.
No one will want to face the Clippers but we could be set for a mouth-watering all-LA clash in the first round. Incredibly, the Clippers and the Lakers have never previously met in a playoff series but they could be on a collision course this year. For fans, the prospect of seeing LeBron James and Luka Doncic come up against the league’s form team in the first round would be a real spectacle.
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