With the playoffs looming around, the pressure continues to mount on the Los Angeles Lakers. On paper, they were expected to be one of the feariest teams this season, but instead, they can't seem to find a way to get victories.
The Lakers are in a critical situation as they sit 9th in the Western Conference and it looks like they can only aspire to a play-in berth at best. But they're constantly losing games, so the risk of failing to even do that is real.
Frank Vogel's side has recently lost its fourth game in a row when crosstown rivals Los Angeles Clippers beat the Lakers 132-111 on Thursday. The Purple and Gold are going through a terrible rough patch, which is why Charles Barkley joked that Bronny James could start in this team.
Charles Barkley suggests the Lakers are so bad that Bronny James could start
"Does Bronny start or come off the bench this year? I think Bronny might get a chance to start," Barkley said at the halftime report of the Lakers' loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. He could be seen laughing shortly after he said that, in case anyone doubted he was joking.
Well, that's certainly not something that would please any Lakers fan but could also be taken as a disrespectful comment by LeBron James and his son. The King revealed his intentions to play with Bronny at some point but it's clear that won't happen anytime soon. But, the joke aside, Chuck has also weighed in on why the Lakers are struggling so much this season.
Charles Barkley destroys the Lakers' veteran players
One of the biggest talking points of the offseason was the aging roster the Lakers have set up for this season. They have signed many big-name but old players, so the concerns relied on what would they really bring to the table besides experience and maybe leadership.
Well, it's safe to say now that the Lakers could use a much younger core as the team has fallen terribly short of expectations this season. Barkley didn't mince his words towards the Lakers' veterans, who he called 'cooked'.
"As a guy who was a great player, when I got old it sucked," Chuck said, as quoted by Fadeaway World. "So the Lakers got all them old guys. Think about this. All of those old guys, they’re cooked. Well-done. It's over. Dwight’s cooked. DeAndre Jordan cooked. Carmelo is cooked. I love Carmelo, it’s over. Those guys are cooked.”
This season has certainly been complicated for the Lakers and the outlook for the remainder of the regular season isn't encouraging either. However, as LeBron said, we can't count them out yet.
