Charles Barkley doesn’t have ring protection, but he does have Hall of Fame protection and being one of the best ever allows him to say whatever he wants.
Barkley’s honesty is what allows him to be one of the best analyst in the game. Barkley was asked about the Lakers championship shot recently, and he pulled no punches when he told the Mike & Mike Show that the “old, slow, and unathletic Lakers have no shot at winning the title.”
“They’re old, slow and unathletic,” Barkley told Mike Hill and Mark Schlereth on “Mike & Mike” on ESPN Radio. “I have great respect for Kobe Bryant but I never thought this thing was going to work. Everybody went crazy when they won a couple games in a row but they’re old, slow and unathleltic.
“I said that when I broadcasted their game about two or three weeks ago. They’re not a contender. Everybody wants to go crazy but they’re not a contender. Never start a conversion with, ‘There’s help on the way from a 39-year old.’ That’s never a good way to start a conversation. There’s help on the way, but he’s 39 years old. It’s not going to work. They’re not a contender.”
“The Lakers got an old team,” Barkley said. “I hate to keep repeating that. Mike D’Antoni is a very good coach but I never thought they were going to be able to sustain it. You look at the teams in the West. Obviously Oklahoma City is the best team. You got Memphis. You got the Spurs. You got the Clippers. They’re not one of the four best teams in the West so they can get over that and get ready figuring out what they want to do with Dwight Howard. That’s going to be the key, if he’s going to want to stay there or not. That’s going to be the really big decision they got to make.”
The Lakers need some help and I’m not sure Phil Jackson could have helped this team.