Charles Barkley has hilariously questioned whether he is the reason for the LA Lakers and LeBron James’s recent misfortunes, following a disastrous parlay wager on Tuesday night.
Charles Barkley Calls Out ‘Bum’ LeBron James Following Lakers Loss
The Lakers suffered their third straight defeat on Tuesday night as they struggled to fend off a free scoring Suns triad of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, who all posted 20+ points.
It was their second consecutive game allowing 127 points following a crushing defeat at home to the Nuggets, to which coach JJ Redick called out his players for a “lack of competitive spirit.”
Both of those defeats have seen LA collapse shortly after the half-time interval, conceding an inexcusable 37 and 36 points in the third quarter to the Nuggets and Suns respectively.
Although not the kind of numbers the Lakers should be coughing up in a single quarter, they have also struggled to offset those points with scores of their own. In the same time frame across the aforementioned games, they put up a combined measly 35 points.
Early on Tuesday night it appeared to be a straight shootout between Durant and LeBron, who were going score-for-score in the first half, but much like their capitulation against Denver, this soon tailed off.
1993 MVP and TV analyst Charles Barkley, who went 0-6 on his parlay, was left ruing another dismal Lakers performance.
He even questioned whether it was his “fault LeBron is a bum” after the four-time MVP endured a quiet night by his standards, clocking in with 18 points – seven fewer than Barkley needed for his parlay – along with 10 assists.
Charles Barkley on going 0-6 on his parlay:
“Is it my fault LeBron’s a bum?”
(via @NBAonTNT, h/t @cjzero)pic.twitter.com/VdCpISSrse
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) November 27, 2024
The Lakers continue to play with a contradictory style; on the one hand their potent offense ranks fourth in offensive rating across the league, but they inability to shore up their defense sees them all the way down at 27th in the NBA in defensive rating.
