Charles Barkley 'guarantees' Lakers will beat Nuggets, which is bad news for LA

Jordan Greer

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Charles Barkley 'guarantees' Lakers will beat Nuggets, which is bad news for LA image

Lakers fans are not going to be happy with Charles Barkley's latest playoff prediction.

During Friday night's "NBA on TNT" show, the Hall of Famer offered yet another bold "GUARANTEE" ahead of Game 1 of the Western Conference finals. Barkley declared the Lakers wouldn't just win the series and advance to the NBA Finals — he believes they are going to dominate the Nuggets.

MORE: Predictions, picks, schedule for 2020 Western Conference finals

"I'll bet every dime I got in the world on the Lakers this series. GUARANTEED!" Barkley said. "Seriously, I'm not even joking now, Allie [LaForce]. I'll take, if [Nuggets coach] Mike Malone wants to cover it, I'll bet whatever. Any amount of money I'm taking the Lakers. ... If they want some motivation, I'm guaranteeing the Lakers [are] gonna kick their ass."

Ernie Johnson later pressed Barkley on exactly how many games it would take for Los Angeles to eliminate Denver. Barkley didn't initially feel confident enough to put his official stamp on a "gentleman's sweep," but it didn't take long for Chuck to change his mind.

"I'll tell you what, America, Lakers in five. GUARANTEED!" Barkley said.

Unfortunately for the Lakers, Barkley's "GUARANTEE" sticker has been the kiss of death throughout the 2020 NBA playoffs. As the TNT graphics team noted, Barkley has nailed only 13.7 percent of his big bets.

The Lakers and Nuggets have both made Barkley look silly this postseason. He picked the Trail Blazers to sweep the Lakers in the first round and chose the Clippers over the Nuggets in the conference semifinals, which prompted a sharp response from Jamal Murray following Denver's Game 7 win.

"You got [Shaquille O'Neal], you got Charles, I think Zach Lowe's his name ... Stephen A. [Smith], all y'all better start giving this team some damn respect," Murray said. "Because we put in the work. We shouldn't have been down 3-1, but to come back down 3-1 against the Clippers is a big achievement, so it's fun just to change that narrative."

Being wrong won't stop Barkley, of course. The "GUARANTEE" train will keep rolling. Just don't expect it to turn a profit.

Jordan Greer

Jordan Greer Photo

Jordan Greer has been with The Sporting News since 2015. He previously worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He is a graduate of Westminster College and Syracuse University.