The 2015 National Basketball Association regular season began on Tuesday night. The action got off to a rollicking start with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers losing to the Chicago Bulls in epic fashion, and Stephen Curry scoring 24 points in the first quarter of a Golden State Warriors victory.
Most people are focused on the aforementioned teams and a few other championship contenders, certainly not the lowly Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks. However, NBA on TNT analyst and Pro Basketball Hall of Fame power forward Charles Barkley sees opposite directions for these two storied franchises.
Barkley actually believes the Knicks are going to make the playoffs, per Ian Begley of ESPN New York.
"“The Knicks are one of my sleeper teams. I think they will make the playoffs. I think Phil Jackson’s done a good job getting quality NBA players. Porzingis, he’s obviously a young kid with tremendous upside … Lopez is a legitimate NBA player, Arron Afflalo is an NBA player, Grant is an NBA player, you got Derrick Williams — they’ve got actual NBA players. I’m picking the Knicks to make the playoffs. I’m guaranteeing it!”"
On the other hand, the Lakers are not getting much love from Barkley. The Round Mound of Rebound is actually ranking the Lakers below the Los Angeles Sparks, a WNBA team, per USA Today.
"During the broadcast on Tuesday night, Barkley said that the Lakers were the fourth best basketball team in California, trailing the Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers and Sacramento Kings. That’d be enough right there, but he wasn’t done yet."
Charles Barkley: "The #Lakers are the fourth-best team in California. They lucky the Sparks ain't playing, they'd be the fifth." #TNTNBA
— gary washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) October 26, 2015
Rough times for the Lakers. Hilarious times for Barkley.