With his frequent coverage of the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors, Charles Barkley subtly poked fun at ESPN.
The Lakers and Warriors were ranked ninth and tenth in the Western Conference, respectively, as of Friday. Both teams have failed to establish themselves as serious contenders for the championship this season, despite having star-studded lineups that include players like Steph Curry, Anthony Davis, and LeBron James. However, the possibilities of winning it all are more realistic for teams like the Denver Nuggets, the defending champions, and the Boston Celtics.
Barkley made this remark on Thursday night’s episode of TNT’s Inside the NBA.
“The West is gonna go down to the wire, plain and simple,” Barkley said. “It’s gonna be fun to watch. You know, our sister network — the idiots on the other network — keep talking about the Lakers and the Warriors like they got a chance, but listen.”
Barkley was then interrupted by Shaquille O’Neal, who asserted that the play-in tournament at the end of the season—in which seeds 7–10 battle for the remaining two playoff berths in each conference—had given the two teams a shot.
Barkley disregarded that notion.
“The play-in’s not a real thing, just for the record,” he said. “That’s just something we made up, Shaq. It’s just like the [College Basketball Invitational] Tournament.”
Despite not naming the network, Barkley’s reference to ESPN was widely taken to mean just that. To his credit, the network has devoted a good amount of airtime to two teams who may not even qualify for the postseason.