Charles Barkley explains why the Lakers and Warriors are in a tough spot: "They're not any good going forward unless they do something drastic"
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LeBron James and Steph Curry dueled each other in four consecutive NBA Finals from 2015 to 2018. Steph also appeared in the championship series in 2019, and the Warriors won again in 2022 while LeBron led the Lakers to the 2020 NBA title.
But this season, neither team got past the first round of the playoffs, with Curry’s Dubs not even making the postseason. As early as now, people are already talking about which team, the Lakers or the GSW, will be able to bounce back and return to prominence in the coming years.
For Hall of Famer Charles Barkley, neither the Warriors nor Lakers look good moving forward because both teams have outgrown their timelines.
“I don’t feel good about either, said Barkley on the Dan Patrick Show. “They both stink. And I know what they’re gonna do. They gonna throw the coach off the bus, overboard – excuse me. It’s not Darvin Ham or Fank Vogel that is the reason the Warriors and Lakers suck. The Warriors got old; that happens. The Lakers got old, too. There’s nothing you can do about that.”
Warriors were the second-oldest team in the NBA
The Dubs were tied with the L.A. Clippers as the second-oldest team in the NBA this season, with an average age of 28.03. Steph Curry is now 35, while Draymond Green and Klay Thompson are both 33. Compounding matters was the fact that Golden State traded young Jordan Poole for 38-year-old Chris Paul.
The Lakers, meanwhile, weren’t old as a team. In fact, the Lakers were the 12th youngest team in the NBA, with an average age of 25.67 years. However, their best player – LeBron James, was the oldest player in the NBA this season at 39 years old. James also entered the 2023-24 campaign with a 20-year league experience, the most by any player, with Golden State’s CP3 next at 18 years.
“I went off a couple of months ago about all these jackas***s and idiots on other networks saying like, ‘Who’s going to make a run – the Lakers or the Warriors?’ I said neither is going to make a run. Neither one of them is good. And they’re not any good going forward unless they do something drastic.” added Barkley
Lakers fire Darvin Ham
But while Chuck was wrong about the Purple and Gold being old as a team, he was spot-on about throwing their coach under the bus. Before Friday’s playoff games, the Lakers announced the firing of head coach Darvin Ham. He still had two seasons left in his contract, but with the Lakers unable to return to the NBA Finals after their 2020 Bubble championship, firing the head coach was the easiest change.
“It’s been a hell of a two years … I’ll tell you that,” Ham said Monday after L.A. was eliminated by the Nuggets in Game 5. “Sitting in this seat, it’s been a hell of a two years. A lot of good things that got done, but ultimately, you want to win that ultimate prize.”
Meanwhile, Golden State’s Steve Kerr has been at the helm since 2015, and no reports suggest his job is in peril. However, the big question for the Warriors is whether Klay Thompson will be back. If the Dubs move on from him, that could be the drastic move that Barkley was talking about. However, firing Ham may not be the same for the Lakers.