Charles Barkley, the NBA legend, has slammed the Los Angeles Lakers for blaming D’Angelo Russell for their disappointing performance in the first game of the 2023-24 NBA Playoffs Western Conference series against the Denver Nuggets.
Barkley believes the Nuggets are a superior team and that the Lakers should not single out Russell as the scapegoat for their poor performance.
“One thing you can always count on with the Lakers, they gon’ throw somebody under the bus when they lose,” Barkley said on a recent episode of Inside the NBA. “Going back to Russell Westbrook, going back to Frank Vogel, now it’s D’Angelo Russell…The Denver Nuggets are a better team than the Lakers. I didn’t like how they called D’Angelo out after Game 1.”
Russell struggled with his shooting in Game 1, but Barkley believes that he is not the main reason the Lakers lost.
“Kid’s not trying to miss shots but they’re beating them in every aspect of the game. They’re not just beating them at D’Angelo’s position. I hope he has a good game but the Nuggets; they’re just a better team than the Lakers. It has nothing to do with D’Angelo or Rui or whatever. The Denver Nuggets man, they’re a well-oiled machine.”
The Lakers have a history of blaming their players when they lose, having previously singled out Russell Westbrook and Frank Vogel as scapegoats for their poor performances. Barkley believes this is unfair and that the team should take accountability for their mistakes.
“It’s easier to blame someone lower on the totem pole than to accept the FO is the cause for our bad seasons,” Barkley said. “Vogel did not help his case though. Overall it was a combination of a lot of things.”
Despite Russell’s struggles in Game 1, he has been a valuable player for the Lakers this season. It would be a mistake for the team to make him the scapegoat for their Game 1 loss, especially considering the Nuggets are a superior team.
