Austin Reeves’ 7-Word Response to Charles Barkley’s L.A. Criticism
Inside the NBA hosted by Charles Barkley he was not impressed the Los Angeles Lakers after a 125-122 victory via the Los Angeles Clippers. On Saturday morning’s postgame edition of Inside the NBA, Barkley doubled down on his longtime claim that the Lakers are not a title contender and won’t beat the Thunder and other top teams in the West.
“It depends on the seed, because if they’re six, seven or eight and they have to play Denver, Houston or OKC, they’re not going to beat those teams. I’m not even sure they can beat San Antonio,” Barkley said.
The pro basketball Hall of Famer turned studio analyst has been consistent about his beliefs about the Lakers, even before Doncic was traded to the Lakers. He never saw the Lakers as a real contender and continued his skepticism throughout the season.
But yesterday’s moment was different. As Lakers guard Austin Reaves waited to be interviewed by the Inside the NBA crew, he had his headphones on as Barkley talked about his team’s prospects. Ernie Johnson asked if Reeves heard the conversation.
Reeves replied, “Yeah, I’ve heard a little bit. Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion.”
Currently, the The Lakers sit as the fifth seed in the Western Conference coming out of the All-Star break. They are one game ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves and three games in the loss column ahead of the seventh-seeded Phoenix Suns.
This season, the Lakers earned wins over Minnesota and San Antonio, as well as a Denver team without Nikola Jokic. So far, they have yet to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Spurs have beaten them three times since their Nov. 5 win.
But the Lakers are in the midst of a two-game winning streak and host the Boston Celtics on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. The game will be televised on NBC and Peacock.
2026-02-21 16:33:00
