Charles Barkley has a bee in his bonnet about the Los Angeles Lakers.
On Tuesday night, the ‘Round Mound of Rebound’ went off on the current state of the purple and gold following their 118-97 loss to the short-handed Dallas Mavericks.
Charles Barkley praised Mavs head coach Jason Kidd on ‘Inside the NBA‘ for finding a way to win without superstar backcourt duo Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic.
On the flip side, Chuck sounded off on the Lakers.
“The Lakers proved what I’ve kept saying,” the 1993 MVP said.
“The Lakers stink, plain and simple. We got to speak about them because the media is infatuated with the Lakers. But the Lakers are not a good team. They have zero athletic ability. When you watched them, Jason Kidd coached a masterpiece tonight.”
The Lakers allowed the Mavs to shoot 52.3 percent from the field and 47.4 percent from the 3-point range.
Mavs duo Quentin Grimes and PJ Washington combined for 45 points and Dallas knocked down 18 of their 38 attempts from beyond the arc.
LeBron James finished with a respectable 18 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, as well as a highlight-reel dunk, but it was not enough to make the game even remotely close.
With the loss, the Lakers dropped to 20-16 in 36 games, good enough for the sixth seed in the loaded Western Conference.
They are in the middle of a two-game losing streak and, as currently constructed, look a million miles away from competing for a championship.
“I mean, it sucks, obviously, especially knowing where we were and how well we’ve been playing,” LeBron said after the game.
“I felt like they just put people in pick-and-roll who they wanted in pick-and-roll and they tried to exploit matchups. And when we got into rotations, we didn’t make enough second efforts.”
Physicality and effort, particularly on the defensive end, have been a problem for the Lakers all season long.
Barkley has been one of the team’s staunchest critics, and recently took shots at first-year head coach JJ Redick.
Barkley took issue with Redick’s suggestion that some television analysts hurt NBA viewership by criticising the product itself.
Redick did not mention Barkley by name, but the Phoenix Suns legend evidently felt the statement was aimed at him.
“I heard JJ Redick said something about me,” Barkley said during recent Inside the NBA highlights between the Celtics and Timberwolves.
“JJ, you better calm down because when you come for the king, you better not miss. He said something about we’re the reason people ain’t watching this crappy product we got. Us, like we’re out there jacking up 100 3s a night.”
“Remember, I got your Lakers games. You can’t hide them flaws they’ve got,” Barkley continued. “You just a dead man walking. They got rid of Frank Vogel, who did a good job. They got rid of Darvin Ham, who did a good job. You came out there thinking you was gonna change things with that same ugly girl you went on a date with. …
“… The Lakers stink. He came in there thinking, ‘I can make this thing work.’ Hell you can! Better put some makeup on that pig. The Lakers stink, man.”
Redick was asked about Barkley’s comments before LA’s next game, although he didn’t have much to say.
“I didn’t make it all the way through the clip, I gotta be honest with you,” Redick said. “My resting heart rate is probably 64. I watched the clip, it was 64. Literally don’t care. I have other thoughts but … don’t care.”
The Lakers will now return home to host the Charlotte Hornets on Thursday in Los Angeles.