Charles Barkley slams LA Lakers ahead of must-win Game 5
Even with LeBron and Luka Doncic in the team, the Lakers have not yet convinced in the postseason.
The LA Lakers head into Game 5 against the Minnesota Timberwolves with their postseason ambitions hanging by a thread.
A 3-1 series deficit is a substantial, if not quite decisive, hurdle to overcome and the Lakers haven’t convinced this season. Adding Luka Doncic to a team already boasting LeBron James certainly made headlines but it hasn’t yet made a team with championship-winning potential.
That was a subject of conversation on The Dan Patrick Show on Wednesday, with NBA legend Charles Barkley giving his opinion on this Lakers team. Rookie coach J. J. Redick came in for some criticism after Sunday’s Game 4 loss and Barkley is underwhelmed with the on-court showings.
He began: “The Lakers, I told you two months ago, six weeks ago, the Lakers aren’t a good team. They got two really, really good players, but not a good team.”
“ESPN just swings on them like everything tastes like chicken, but the Lakers are not a good team. They’re going to lose either this round or next round, but more likely this round. They’re not very good.”
In particular, Barkley questioned the value that James brings to this team at the age of 40. His point-scoring is still impressive but his understandable physical limitations may have been a factor in Sunday’s loss, with Minnesota taking control of the game in the fourth quarter.
Barkley explained: “The Lakers are not going to be a contender with the team they have now. Your best player can’t be 40. That makes no sense whatsoever. Your best player can’t be 40.”
“And JJ was wrong the other night to play those guys the entire second half because, No. 1, it’s probably going to affect them tonight. It definitely affected them down the stretch the other night. Both of those guys missed lay-ups and they made some mental mistakes with the ball.”
The Lakers have certainly underwhelmed this season, lacking the cohesion and the dynamism that the league’s best teams possess. Either of their show-stopping duo has the ability to win any game on their own but it remains to be seen if that can produce sustained success.
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