Charles Barkley has had enough of the Lakers.
"The Clippers and the team from Southern California," Barkley said on "Inside the NBA" following Thursday's showdown between the two LA teams, refusing to say the Lakers by name.
"I'm not talking about these damn losers. Between the nitwits at TNT and the nitwits at ESPN, we talk about these losers more than any people in the world."
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Chuck refuses to mention the word "Lakers" for the rest of the season 😂 pic.twitter.com/pNkyNd91cK
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 4, 2022
Barkley's comments came after the Clippers defeated the Lakers by 21 points, a game that was televised on TNT in the United States. It marked the fourth straight loss for the Lakers, moving them to 27-35 on the season.
The Lakers currently rank ninth in the Western Conference standings. They're separated by only one game from the Pelicans in 10th and two games from the Trail Blazers in 11th. For a team that entered the season with the second-best odds to win the championship and is now fighting to remain in the Play-In picture, safe to say it hasn't gone as planned.
Thursday's loss to the Clippers marked the:
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) March 4, 2022
- 20th time this season the Lakers have trailed by 20+ points
- 14th time the Lakers have trailed by 25+ points
- 7th time the Lakers have trailed by 30+ points
All 3 are the most in a season by a LeBron James team in his career. pic.twitter.com/AV96lTQSUf
The Lakers have 20 games remaining in their season, 10 of which will be on national TV in the United States — three on TNT, three on NBA TV, two on ABC and two on ESPN. The Lakers could be without Anthony Davis for some of those games, as the eight-time All-Star is currently sidelined with a mid-foot sprain.
Barkley said he will start calling the Lakers by name again "if they win a playoff game," so you can expect a lot of "the team from Southern California" in the next few TNT broadcasts.
