The Los Angeles Lakers are such a heavyweight in the world of team sports that even when they aren’t that good, they still get lots of air time.
It’s especially been true over the last few years. In five previous seasons with LeBron James, they missed the playoffs twice and had to go through the play-in tournament on two other occasions. While one cannot really call the era a failure, as they won the NBA championship in 2020, some would call it a disappointment.
Although L.A. has won 13 of its last 20 games, it is only in ninth place in the Western Conference with a 32-28 record. Few, if any, would call it a championship contender, which led TNT’s Charles Barkley to complain about the amount of media coverage the team still receives (h/t Sports Illustrated).
“I’m so sick of these fools on other networks talking about the Lakers and the [Golden State] Warriors,” said Barkley. “We don’t brag about any other play-in teams do we? I understand Steph (Stephen Curry) is great and LeBron is great, ain’t nobody worried about the Lakers and the Warriors in the West”
“… These teams in the West are not worried about the Lakers and the Warriors. We’ve been kissing these guys’ [expletive] so much. We don’t brag about the No. 9 team in the East. They ain’t got no chance. The Lakers and the Warriors, they’re on a little spell, they’re doing well, LeBron was amazing last night. But they’re not going to beat those teams up top… so stop juicing them up,” he added.
While the Lakers have had their issues this season, if they continue to win the majority of their remaining games, and especially if they finish in the top six in the Western Conference, they would be a dangerous team come playoff time. No one would want to face them at that point in a best-of-seven.
