Charles Barkley Has Honest Prediction For Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers have a 13-12 record and fans are a bit worried about the situation on the court. Injuries, suspensions, and COVID-19 turned the situation in LA upside down. LeBron James missed a big chunk of the season, and some of the key players sustained injuries, too. Charles Barkley is not too confident about the Lakers. His latest prediction won’t sit well with the Lakers faithful.

According to Barkley, the Lakers will end up playing the play-in tournament again. It’s too soon to make any prediction of this kind, but Barkley was a bit too confident about this one. He doesn’t like the fact that Lakers players lost too many games so far in the regular season.

“The Los Angeles Lakers will be in the play-ins,” Barkley said on Tuesday night.

"The Los Angeles Lakers will be in the play-ins." ?

Chuck gives his bold predictions for the rest of the season. pic.twitter.com/2g0blWoZi0

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) December 8, 2021

Charles Barkley motivates Lakers

Who is responsible for this mess? Barkley believes that Anthony Davis should elevate his game and Shaquille O’Neal shares the same opinion. They both said that AD has to do better during his games. Neither of them put the blame on Russell Westbrook, Frank Vogel, or any other veteran on the roster.

When it comes to Vogel, the Lakers head coach is on the hot seat right now. Some fans want the front office to fire him just because the Lakers lost 12 games. If you ask LeBron, he will say it’s all about their chemistry. Everyone has to try harder to make the whole thing work.

“I think criticism comes with the job, you know?” LeBron said after practice on Monday, via ESPN.com. “Frank is a strong-minded guy. He has a great coaching staff. And we as his players have to do a better job of going out and producing on the floor. We’re a team and an organization that don’t mind some adversity, that don’t mind people saying things about us, obviously, because it comes with the territory.”

Several analysts said that the Lakers may replace Vogel during the All-Star weekend. Jeanie Buss heard all the rumors and her response was a bit… expected. Buss wouldn’t fire anyone before she sees each and every player on the court. She wants to see a 100% healthy Lakers team before she makes a decision on Vogel’s job security.