NBA fans who regularly watch and listen to mainstream media, attention is almost always focused around a handful of teams. The Los Angeles Lakersled by LeBron Jamesand the Golden State Warriorsled by Stephen Curryhave been the subject of exorbitant discussions regarding their status as legitimate NBA contenders, and Charles Barkley has a problem with that.
On the one hand, both teams have some of the largest and most passionate fan bases in the league. On the other, Barkley says the word “contender” was thrown around too often when in reality, they weren’t all that good.
Charles Barkley on the Lakers and Warriors
Charles Barkley recently joined the Bill Simmons Podcast, hosted by The Ringer’s Bill Simmons, to talk about Caitlin Clark, the state of the NBA on TNT and more. Topics covered include: Barkley’s dislike of the amount the Lakers and Warriors to get people talking about them on competing networks that are partners of the NBA.
“I don’t know if you watched our show.” Barkley explained. “But I lashed out at the media last year, mainly at a lot of these clowns in the ESPN. I’m like every day for, like, three months, [they ask] “Are the Lakers and Warriors contenders?” I said, “Hey man, I told you six months ago, the Lakers suck and the Warriors suck!” I went on a whole rant. I said, “Why are you guys on other networks?” — some of them are friends of mine — “Why do you guys keep telling us the Lakers and Warriors are good?” The Lakers suck! The Warriors suck! Think about it. And then when they both got beat in the imaginary playoff bullshit, Bill, that we made up, the play-in thing, and then the Lakers won a game against Denver. I said, “See, now you guys are on TV every day. I told you, the Warriors suck and the Lakers suck.” “And right now, none of those teams are relevant heading into the season.”
While Charles Barkley is certainly right, it’s important to remember the grip and fascination that the basketball world has on players like LeBron James and Stephen Curry. And when you add to that the global brands that are the Lakers and Warriors, it’s easy to see why they’re so talked about.
Bill Simmons, who was a pre- and post-game guest on ESPN’s NBA broadcasts, attempted to explain the reasoning behind the Lakers and Warriors’ heavy involvement in their broadcasts.
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“Part of it comes from the producers, who you’ve been very fortunate to have in your experiences with Turner,” Simmons said. “I’ve done these shows, they’d tell you. I was doing TV for the years, the last few years with Kobe, and we were always leading with the Lakers. They’d say, ‘Talk about Kobe, talk about the Lakers, talk about the Knicks.’ They’re just trying to hit the three biggest teams.
We’ll likely see a lot of the same this coming season, especially after the Olympic success for the American team led by LeBron James and Stephen Curry.
The Lakers currently lead the list of nationally televised games this season with 39, and the Warriors are close behind with 36 nationally televised games. Both numbers are higher than the reigning NBA champion Boston Celtics, who have received 34 nationally televised games.