In an interview for the Dan LeBatard Show on 790 The Ticket in Miami, Barkley was asked whether he believed the Lakers have a chance to contend for the NBA title, to which he responded (via SportsRadioInterviews.com:
None. Zero. Zero chance. I think Oklahoma City, Memphis and the Spurs are the three best teams in the West.
Clearly, Sir Charles wasn't planning on holding anything back—and he didn't.
When told that Vegas still had the Lakers as the third-most likely team to win the championship this year, Barkley took exception:
Mike D'Antoni is a very good coach, but not for that team. I joked last week on the show. They said 'There's help on the way.' And I said 'Yeah, there's help on the way in a 39-year-old aging point guard.
I like Steve Nash a lot, but when you look at those top four teams in the West you have Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul, Tony Parker and even Mike Conley. Steve Nash, he's 39, he couldn't guard those guys when he was 29.
And that's why I don't think things are going to get better for the Lakers.
Unrelenting?
Very. So was his notion that "it's going to be difficult for them to make the playoffs."
This is both nothing new and enlightening at the same time.
Barkley trashed the Lakers earlier in the season when they were running the Princeton offense Mike Brown attempted to implement. It was then he cited the need for the team to put the ball in Nash's hands.
Now that the ball is in Nash's hands, however, Barkley still isn't happy:
When I broadcast the game two weeks ago, Steve Kerr said I was talking to the Lakers before the game and Kobe said he’s not sure what team they are going to get night after night. I said they are going...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
