When Charles Barkley sent out an invite to LeBron James to join him and the rest of the NBAonTNT crew after getting bounced from Playoff contention.
The 2018-19 Los Angeles Lakers saw a strange amalgamation of players hit the floor. LeBron James spent an entire season trying to integrate himself with young guys like Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram, while also carrying them to the Playoffs on a strained groin that sidelined him for months on end. His efforts remained futile as they missed the postseason in 2019.
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That same summer, LeBron James and the Lakers managed to ship the young guys on the squad off to the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for All-NBA big-man, Anthony Davis. Mortgaging their future and turning their focus to winning in the moment proved to be the right decision as the purple and gold welcomed in the new decade with a championship.
Though the Lakers have completely moved on from that 2019 squad, it’s interesting to look back at how their season played out. Charles Barkley was certainly amused by it as he clowned on him on NBAonTNT.
LeBron James gets invited onto NBAonTNT by Charles Barkley after failing to make the Playoffs.
NBAonTNT has been lauded as much as it has due to the fact that the Shaquille O’Neal-Charles Barkley tandem, mixed in with Ernie Johnson and Kenny Smith play off each other extremely well. Chuck, during the commencement of the 2019 Playoffs, sent out a hilarious plea to LeBron James to have him join the show.
“LeBron James, come into the studio. You ain’t got nothing to do. Playoffs started yesterday. I know you got to pick a new coach and general manager. Just put that on the back-burner. I’m speaking on behalf of Ernie, Kenny, and Shaq.”
Unfortunately for Barkley, James never made it onto the show following this request. Perhaps he was still gutted after hearing Chuck roast his hairline after he had won the 2018 All-Star Game MVP.
