“Does he have flaws in his game? 100%...They could get Steve Nash fired by Sunday” – Charles Barkley
The NBA season starts today and there are a few storylines to watch out for. NBA Analyst and former NBA player Charles Barkley was a guest on the Dan Patrick show today and they discussed a couple of the more interesting topics of the new NBA season.
One of the topics of discussion was how the Lakers will be this season. In particular, they discussed Lakers guard Russell Westbrook. Russell struggled with the team last season to fit in and his stats took a dip.
"Russell Westbrook is the hardest player I've ever seen play in the NBA. Does he have flaws in his game? 100%." - Charles Barkley
The team was unsuccessful this offseason in finding a trade partner for Westbrook. The team will be under new coach Darvin Ham and may have better success with Westbrook and help him find a role with the team. The team added Patrick Beverly in the offseason, who did not have a great relationship with Westbrook prior to them being teammates.
"They're must watch television, we have no idea when Russ is gonna a punch Patrick Beverley" - Charles Barkley
Barkley is unsure if the new teammates would get along and referred to an incident that happened during a preseason game where Westbrook seemed to ignore Beverley.
"That little thing the other day when he's trying to call him in the Huddle and Russ is look like No, Hell no, I'm not going in the Huddle." - Charles Barkley
Will the Lakers be able to resolve their issues? Will there be a trade before the deadline? We will just have to see how it plays out.
Will Steve Nash last with the Nets?
Barkley also speculated on the situation in Brooklyn. Over the summer, superstar Kevin Durant demanded a trade and requested that coach Steve Nash be fired for him to return to the team. The Nets did not honor either request. No one knows what to expect from the Nets.
"And this situation in Brooklyn, man, they could win the championship or they could get Steve Nash fired by Sunday." - Charles Barkley
Steve Nash will begin his third season as the Nets coach. Will he and his top superstar be able to patch up their issues? The ownership did not extend Kyrie Irving’s contract beyond this season and did not trade him in the offseason. Ownership appears to want to try this with the roster at full strength.
How will Ben Simmons fit into all of this? If the team struggles out the gate Nash could be fired a lot sooner rather than later. Nash will have to make sure that he is not a mid-season casualty.