Charles Barkley adds fuel to the fire for LeBron James, Steph Curry with viral comments

The Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors have found their rhythm at a critical juncture in the 2023-24 campaign, yet find themselves outside of the top eight in the Western Conference standings.

After such disappointing starts to the season, many have been unable to unsee the underwhelming performance of both teams through the first 50-or-so games of the year, including NBA Hall of Famer and analyst Charles Barkley.

Barkley has no faith in the Lakers or Warriors to make noise in the NBA playoffs if they can find a way in, and all but dismissed their championship aspirations in a recent NBA on TNT segment.

Charles Barkley puts Lakers and Warriors on blast

“Ain’t nobody worried about the Lakers and the Warriors in the West,” Barkley said.

The Western Conference is littered with talented teams from top to bottom, but Los Angeles and Golden State have something that most franchises do not have: two of the best players in NBA history.

We have seen what having transcendent superstars like LeBron James and Stephen Curry can do for teams like the Lakers and Warriors come playoff time, even if the rosters are depleted. Both players have done more with less time and time again throughout their careers and are still playing at an All-NBA caliber – they cannot be ignored.

Sitting at 33-28 and ninth place in the conference standings, James and the Lakers have won nine of their past 12 games, reminiscent of the post-All-Star break surge Los Angeles enjoyed last season en route to a Western Conference Finals run.

Winners of 11 out of their last 14 contests, Curry and the Warriors have improved their record to 31-27, good for 10th in the West. Golden State is heating up at the right time and reminding us why we cannot count out a team that has won four of the previous nine NBA Championships.

As if James and Curry needed more motivation, Barkley may have awoken a pair of sleeping giants by poking the bear(s).