While Charles Barkley called the NBA’s inaugural in-season tournament a “resounding success,” he also had some choice words and a warning for the Lakers following their championship game victory over the Pacers.
In short, Barkley warned that if Los Angeles follows through on raising a banner for their in-season tournament title, he will publicly put them on blast.
“We’re not raising banners, we’re not doing parades … The Lakers better not put up an in-season banner—listen, man, if they do that, I’m gonna roast their ass on TV … If they put that in-season tournament banner up, Dan, I’m gonna roast them on television,” Barkley said to Dan Patrick during a segment on the Dan Patrick Show.
"If they put that in-season banner up I'm gonna roast their ass on television."
-Barkley's reacts to the #Lakers raising a banner for their in-season tournament championship pic.twitter.com/z6A2qXCvlB
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) December 13, 2023
Quite possibly, the best part of this is the fact that there’s no reason to believe Barkley is lying. He’s outspoken, blunt, and honest, and he’s warning the Lakers that it’s coming if they choose to put an in-season banner up.
Barkley is correct that the tournament was a huge success. But he makes a strong point about the franchise being one of essentially two teams in the NBA, along with the Celtics, that are the “gold standard,” where it’s NBA championship or bust each season.
