- The Lakers made it to the Western Conference Finals last season where they lost to the Denver Nuggets
- Charles Barkley thinks they were very lucky to get that far
- Barkley feels the Lakers had an easy draw
The Los Angeles Lakers got to the Western Conference Finals in the 2023 playoffs, but Charles Barkley thinks that was just down to them being lucky. During an appearance on The Bill Simmons Podcast, Barkley talked down on the Lakers’ postseason run.
“They got very lucky,” Barkley said. “They had a great draw in the playoffs. But if Anthony Davis is not an MVP candidate, the Lakers are not going to be close to winning a championship.”
(starts at 17:52 mark)
It might not be quite fair to say the Lakers just had a great draw.
Sure, they were a bit fortunate that the Memphis Grizzlies were without Steven Adams and Brandon Clarke. It led to Anthony Davis dominating the series, but the Grizzlies still had Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Desmond Bane. They were a pretty good team.
Then in the next round, they took on the defending champions, the Golden State Warriors.
We have learned that things weren’t quite right behind the scenes for the Warriors, but Stephen Curry, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson were all healthy and playing. No one in the West had eliminated that group in the playoffs under Steve Kerr before the Lakers did.
Just because they avoided the Phoenix Suns and only had to face the Denver Nuggets in the Conference Finals doesn’t really mean they got very lucky.
Interestingly, Barkley did have the Lakers as one of his title contenders for the 2023-24 season, so he does have some faith in them.
Anthony Davis Has To Be Special If The Lakers Are To Win
Barkley is right when he says, though, that Anthony Davis has to play at a very high level if the Lakers are to win a championship.
Davis averaged 22.6 points, 14.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.4 blocks, and 3.1 steals per game in the 2023 postseason and was arguably the best defender.
He was quite inconsistent on offense, though, and the Lakers need him to be at his dominant best on most nights if they are to win it all.
GM Rob Pelinka said the Lakers extended Davis as he is one of the most dominant two-way players in the league, and he needs to play at that level night in and night out.
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