Charles Barkley offers strong remark on LA Lakers - "The Lakers, they’re trying to win a championship, which they got zero chance of"
NBA legend Charles Barkley recently expressed his thoughts on the LA Lakers' title hopes following their loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. While Barkley had a lot of praise for the young Cavs team during his segment, the former player practically wrote off the Lakers as a title contender.
The Purple and Gold had an extremely rough start to the season. After a series of losses saw them placed at the bottom of the West with a 2-10 record, the Lakers made a gradual rise towards improvement.
With sporadic wins in short bursts, the Lakeshow managed to come close to .500. However, the team has since fallen upon rough times with Anthony Davis out of the rotation.
Davis has been an integral part of the team's winning culture as of late. Given his MVP-caliber streak over the last few weeks, AD has been the prime reason behind the Lakers' competitiveness.
Unfortunately, tragedy struck when Davis experienced flu-like symptoms during the game against Cleveland and had to be taken to the locker room. Davis' absence on the floor was felt as the Cavaliers trampled over the Lakers with a 116-102 win.
The LA Lakers looked like a different team with their superstar big man off the court. Given the manner in which the game was built up, several, including Charles Barkley, expected a more competitive showing from the Lakers. However, this would not come to pass.
While the Cavaliers did a solid job of pulling away with the win, Barkley had some harsh criticism for the Lakers. He addressed their performance on Inside the NBA on TNT and said:
"The Lakers, they’re trying to win a championship, which they got zero chance of. But if you're the Cavs you're like, 'We want people to know that we've got a really good team.'"
Charles Barkley says the Lakers have ‘zero’ chance of winning the championship: lakersdaily.com/charles-barkle…
Chuck offered positive feedback for the young Cavaliers, who made the most of their situation. However, his comments certainly place the Lakers in poor light.
Barkley hasn't been quiet about his disappointment with the Purple and Gold. Having written them off last season as well, Chuck appears to be prepared for disappointment this season too.
It will be hard to determine how the team will fare going forward as the LA Lakers continue to struggle to win consistently.
The LA Lakers come up short against the Toronto Raptors
To add to the misery of dealing with the loss in Cleveland, the LA Lakers face more trouble as they came up short against the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday.
Playing the second night of a back-to-back on the road, the Purple and Gold faced a tough contest against the Raptors. With Anthony Davis and LeBron James both listed out for the game, the Lakers were significantly shorthanded.
The game was put away early as Toronto dominated in the first half. Taking a 60-47 lead, the Raptors managed to coast the rest of the way.
The Lakers made a furious attempt to cut the deficit in the fourth-quarter. Led by Dennis Schroder and Thomas Bryant, the Purple and Gold managed to make things closer. However, it was far too late in the game for miracles.
Now at 10-14, the LA Lakers are ranked 13th in the West. With a tough road trip ahead and three games out of the seventh, the Lakers will have their work cut out for them.