The LA Lakers are on the brink of becoming the first team in NBA history to be swept in back-to-back playoff series by the same opponent. However, off the court, tensions flared as Charles Barkley and the ‘Inside the NBA’ crew found themselves in an unexpected situation following the Lakers’ recent Game 3 loss.
While the Purple and Gold struggled on the court, Chuck struggled to hold his temper with LeBron James. The reason was not his team’s performance, but unprofessional behavior, as the King arrived hours late to the post-game presser.
Going down 0-3 in the series must have obviously hurt King James, as he was nowhere to be found after the players took to their respective locker rooms. The TNT crew was in Studio J, waiting for LeBron, as the panel usually covers the post-game analysis and the post-game press conference.
Seeing that everyone was growing impatient with James’s delay, veteran anchor Ernie Johnson decided to capture some post-game comments from the panel as they continued to wait on the 39-year-old superstar. While Shaq and Kenny played along perfectly, Barkley didn’t look in the mood to tolerate LeBron’s shenanigans.
Calling out James, Charles told his co-panelists, “I don’t care if you played 40 minutes. You don’t keep the media waiting. You show up. Especially when your team is losing. When you don’t show up, it sends the wrong message to your team.”
Despite the delay, ‘Inside the NBA’ delivered yet another insightful breakdown of the game and player’s comments, as Barkley relished at the opportunity to criticize the Lakers. He led the panel with his comments, claiming that James and the crew had already given up, as was evident from their body language in the second half.
The rest of the crew also found the Lakers’ second-half performance abysmal, as once again the Denver Nuggets came from behind to take another game.
The Nuggets eventually claimed yesterday night’s contest, 112-105. While the home team put up a valiant effort, the game came down to rebounds and three-pointers, in which the Lakers underperformed. While LeBron did arrive late to the press conference, the King sat down with the media to analyze the game.
Pointing to his mentality from this point onwards, James presented Game 4 of the series as an opportunity for his team. “We’ve got to come out and play with more urgency. We’ve got to play with more desperation. We’ve got to play with more heart,” James said.
While the Lakers definitely need a change in mindset, it’s even more important that they ponder upon a change in coaching. The difference in the team’s talent is visible, but the deciding factor in the last three games has been Coach Ham’s adjustments down the stretch. The Nuggets have made comebacks in back-to-back games while executing the same pick-and-roll plays.
That said, the players aren’t without their own faults, as the Lakers combined for 5/27 on threes and shot just 70% from the free-throw line. In most critics’ eyes, the game is over, and it somewhat even showed in James’ eyes.
