The Lakerhead

Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith Sell Lakers Out on National TV. I Buy Them Back.

I must have been dreaming.  The Lakers just wipe the floor in a clutch game 7 performance.  But all Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith could talk about in TNT studios was how the Lakers don’t deserve to win the championship because of some perceived lack of effort (Barkley making the initial statement, and Kenny Smith agreeing with him).

No Love For the Lakers Has Become a Standard for Smith and Barkley.

Come again? I could have sworn Kenny Smith’s Rockets came back 3-1 (twice) against the Phoenix Suns, while also playing a multitude of elimination games against other teams. This is when they had Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, with Robert Horry, Mario Ellie, and Kenny Smith himself on the outside draining threes.

Should we go back in time and not cheer for those Rockets teams because they didn’t deserve to win the championship? After all, they just played hard enough to barely beat a team, right? Am I too old school to think that whoever wins a best of 7 series deserves the win and the respect?

According to Barkley's Flawed Logic, He Probably Doesn't Even Deserve to be in this Picture.

I guess according to this theory, the Celtics didn’t deserve to win a championship last year, because they went 7 games against Lebron’s Cavs (which was basically a match-up of one all-star, Lebron James, against three all-stars).

Charles Barkley’s commentary was even more ridiculous. He assumed the Lakers weren’t trying as hard as they should because of his perceived notion that the Lakers are super-talented. He even went so far as to say he never played with someone at talented as Pau Gasol or even Lamar Odom. Lamar Odom?! Professional offensive foul machine Lamar Odom?! I could have sworn Barkley played with super all-star point guard Kevin Johnson, not to mention Dr.J early in his career.

Remeber This Guy, Charles? He Was Slightly Better Than Lamar Odom.

Here is a news flash: The Lakers deserve to be in the Western Finals. And if former players that also played in teams that had 2 all-stars (and barely won in a number of series) want to question the Lakers’ effort (even with Bynum being at 80%, Fisher and Vujacic forgetting how to shoot the ball, Odom being typically inconsistent, and Kobe having to work against two great defenders in Battier and Artest), then so be it.  Just know that the Laker nation has taken note of this event, and finds the hypocrisy laughable.