Charles Barkley is a man who says what he want to say. It’s what he’s paid to do on ‘Inside the NBA,’ after all. But some of his points are made more eloquently, or less forcefully, than others.
Barkley, for example, clearly had something to say about Lonzo Ball on Thursday night. The Lakers rookie point guard has had some highs and lows in the young season, perhaps predictably. After all, how can the most hyped rookie in recent memory live up to the massive expectations thrust upon him by his father?
It’s definitely a bit of a Major Major Major Major situation, if you’re a Catch-22 fan. Is Lonzo’s play disappointing because his father grew Big Baller hype to the hyperbolic point it’s currently at? Or did his drafting at second overall to the Lakers, one of the biggest media markets on the planet, push the expectations too high for a mere mortal to achieve?
The answer is probably a bit of both, but either way, the kid is going to take some flack for it when he struggles, as he certainly has shooting lately. And Barkley was sure to rub it in on Thursday night, trying very hard not to catch a brick that Lonzo was trying to put in the hoop for the Lakers.
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Barkley ducks a few times, interrupting Ernie Johnson until he finally gets to say what he wants to.
“What are you ducking from?” Kenny asks, setting up the punchline.
“Lonzo Ball’s shooting,” Barkley replies. “Some bricks coming around here.”
It’s a line that got a laugh in the studio, and it’s a nice bit of Schadenfreude for anyone who grew tired of hearing about Lonzo from his father all summer. But I’m not sure how many Lakers fans are laughing about this just yet. Jokes or not, the expectations for Ball remain sky-high.
