Lakers News: How Charles Barkley Feels About LA's Improved Midseason Play

The Hall of Famer has never been one to shy away from hot takes.

Thursday night at Crypto.com Arena, your Los Angeles Lakers fought their way back from a huge 19-point first half gap to force at home against a more talented Dallas Mavericks club, and then kept pace with the Mavs to force a second OT frame.

LA's luck ran out there, as the club fell to Dallas down the stretch of that second bonus period, 119-115. 

But Charles Barkley, for one, didn't care if LA lost by a quarter inch or a mile. What mattered to Chuck was, well, the losing.

The Lakers took it to double-OT but the Chuckster is still not impressed 😅 pic.twitter.com/sbhoIMDvxH

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) January 13, 2023

"It's still groundhog day. The Lakers lost again," Barkley joked during the bout's TNT postgame show.

"Give them a little credit for coming back from 19," Ernie Johnson countered.

"What you want a cookie? Want a participation trophy" Barkley retorted.

"You don't think the Lakers are playing better basketball over the last 15 games?" Kenny Smith asked Barkley.

"They lost again," came Barkley's brief but not-untrue reply.

The Lakers have gone a solid 6-4 across their last ten games, including a recent five-game winning streak, though the Dallas defeat does mark their second consecutive loss.

At 19-23, the Lakers currently occupy the 13th seed in the Western Conference, three shy of a play-in game. The West is relatively bunched-up beyond its top five players, however. The Lakers are just 2.5 games shy of the 22-21 Clippers. LA is another win streak away from avoiding the play-in tournament entirely.