It remains to be seen if Barkley is right about his predictions. During their first game, the Lakers looked like a brand new team under Reddick. The revamped Lakers offense looked much more fluid alongside a solid defense spearheaded by\u00a0Anthony Davis<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0his big game. Only time will tell if the Lakers can succeed under Reddick. For now, they stand alone atop the Western Conference.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Charles Barkley ripped apart the Los Angeles Lakers and ESPN with his latest rant after the LA Lakers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves. Los Angeles Lakers rookie Bronny… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1864,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\n
![\"Charles](\"https:\/\/firstsportz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Los-Angeles-Lakers-rookie-Bronny-James-and-Charles-Barkley.jpg\")
<\/div>\nLos Angeles Lakers rookie Bronny James and Charles Barkley<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The Inside Crew on TNT is always the best show in sports, and it was great to see the trio return on air for potentially their last season together. After the Lakers defeated the Timberwolves in their season opener, the Crew was up to their usual antics as\u00a0Charles Barkley<\/strong>\u00a0decided to go on a rant about the Lakers. Caught in the line of fire? ESPN.<\/p>\n On a\u00a0historic night\u00a0for the Lakers, the team secured a 110-103 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. However, after the game,\u00a0Charles Barkley\u00a0fired shots at ESPN and predicted that the primetime sports network would over-glorify the win by the City of Angels. In a scathing rant, Barkley asserted that the Lakers would go on to finish in the bottom half of the Western Conference.<\/p>\n I got to listen to those dudes on ESPN talking about how the Lakers are contenders tomorrow, and they\u2019re going to be the number nine seed where they always are\u2026 They\u2019re gonna beat a dead horse tomorrow- \u2018The Lakers are contenders, the Lakers are contenders.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n Charles Barkley said on TNT<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n Lmao Charles Barkley is expecting ESPN to call the Lakers “contenders” tomorrow\u00a0pic.twitter.com\/22B75XYZRz<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Oh Yes He Did (@OhYesHeDid24)\u00a0October 23, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n The rest of the Inside Crew opposed Chuck\u2019s opinion, claiming that the Lakers deserved praise after a gritty win. But Barkley remained unmoved. The HOF\u2019er was critical of the tendency of fans and pundits to overrate middling teams as top-tier contenders. Barkley predicted that the Lakers will finish no higher than the 9th seed in the Western Conference.<\/p>\n Over the last few years, his critical stance towards the Lakers has been noticeable. Even though the legend denied claims of being a \u2018Laker Hater,\u2019 his overtly critical, although occasionally justified, stance in regard to the Lakers has been a constant part of his discourse. Nonetheless, it remains to be seen if the Lakers can overtake Charles Barkley\u2019s expectations of them.<\/p>\n In the lead-up to the season-opening matches, the Inside Crew revealed their opinions on the upcoming season. As the Crew discussed the Lakers\u2019 upcoming season, Charles Barkley revealed who he feels is the true leader of the team.<\/p>\n While he believes that the team will follow the coaching of new head coach\u00a0JJ Reddick<\/strong>, Chuck asserted that the true leader of the team remains\u00a0LeBron James<\/strong>.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t know what kind of coach JJ is gonna be. He was a good player but it\u2019s LeBron\u2019s team<\/em>.<\/p>\n Charles Barkley said on TNT<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n “I don’t know what kind of coach JJ is gonna be\u2026 but it’s LeBron’s team”<\/p>\n Chuck & Shaq give their takes on the Redick-LeBron pairing in LA\u00a0pic.twitter.com\/W62eDNQNMT<\/a><\/p>\n\n
Charles Barkley reveals the true leader of the Lakers team<\/h2>\n
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