The Lakers and Warriors are trading places for the No. 9 and No. 10 seed in the West for the last week. In the pre-play-in seasons, both would be out of the playoffs and not realistic contenders. Charles Barkley is not happy about how major media networks keep talking about the Lakers and Warriors as contenders with their position on the standings.
“I am so sick of these fools on other networks talking about the Lakers and the Warriors. We don’t brag about any other play-in team, do we? I understand Steph is great, LeBron is great, but ain’t nobody worried about Lakers and Warriors in the West.”
Chuck: "Ain't nobody worried about the Lakers and the Warriors in the West." 😅 pic.twitter.com/iTjGIh63uK
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) March 1, 2024
Barkley reiterated that they have no chance against any of the Western teams ahead of them in the playoffs.
“These teams in the West aren’t worried about them. We be kissing these guys’ ass so much. We don’t brag about the No. 9 team in the East. They ain’t got no chance. The Lakers and Warriors are on a little spell, they doing nice, LeBron was amazing last night. But they ain’t beating the teams ahead of them.”
Barkley has spoken a half-truth in my opinion. The media has overhyped both these teams for sure, but it’s inarguable that both are incredibly dangerous opponents just because of Stephen Curry and LeBron James. Curry was Finals MVP just two seasons ago and LeBron’s Lakers went from the play-in to the Conference Finals last season.
Both teams aren’t realistic championship contenders and are overhyped in that regard, but they aren’t as weak as a typical nine or ten seed. With the right matchup and a little bit of luck, both teams have an outside chance of making a run.
Can Either Team Jump Into The Top Six?
The Lakers and Warriors have both been on positive runs of form for the last month, but the Warriors have been better. They went 11-3 in February and have caught up to the Lakers who have had a 8-3 record this month. They’re separated by half a game, with the Lakers maintaining a slight advantage if they beat the Wizards tonight. But Golden State is red-hot right now, going 8-2 in their last 10.
Both teams are 3 games behind the sixth-seeded Pelicans and 3.5 games behind the fifth-seeded Suns. This is a very reasonable amount of wins to make up, but it’s hard to bet that either franchise could do it, especially with the teams ahead of them in the play-in as well. The Mavericks are 8-2 in their last 10 games and are looking like a contender while the Kings have struggled off-late but are still keeping themselves in the mix with a positive win record.
Making up three games for both franchises is not only reliant on them winning out, but also that the teams ahead of them drop games. It genuinely may take a 50-win record to solidify a top-six seed in the West this season. The odds these franchises can do that are slim, but nobody will be foolish enough to rule it out.
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