After Hall of Fame forward and NBA analyst Charles Barkley blamed the association’s second apron and its penalties on the league’s superteam era, including Los Angeles Lakers All-Star LeBron James, ESPN analyst Richard Jefferson clapped back. Ahead of 2025-26, Barkley said the Lakers are Luka Doncic’s team and not James’ as last year’s trade with the Dallas Mavericks drastically changed who’s in the driver’s seat in Los Angeles.
Still, it was Barkley’s take on the Bill Simmons Podcast that struck a chord with Jefferson, who called Barkley out for being a part of arguably the NBA’s first superteam in the Houston Rockets during the late 1990s, per ESPN’s Road Trippin.
“I remember Charles Barkley going to Houston, and then he teamed up with Hakeem Olajuwon, and then Scottie Pippen was also there,” Jefferson. “Olajuwon and Barkley were in year 14, Pippen was in year 11, so he was in his prime. That sounds like teaming up. That sounds like teaming up if I’m wrong. Hey, let’s go to Shaq and Kobe. Does anybody remember when they recruited Gary Payton when he was still in his prime, and then they recruited Karl Malone?
“Do we remember that? The second all-time leading scorer to play power forward next to Shaq in his prime, after they had won three out of the last four championships. So are we saying Shaq and Kobe? So when we looked at teaming up, he did it. He joined Olajuwon, and then Scottie Pippen came in. Did we forget our history? His own history,” Jefferson concluded.
For the younger NBA fans, Richard Jefferson revealed how Scottie Pippen joined Olajuwon, Barkley, and the Rockets in 1998-99. The three lost in the opening round of the playoffs, 3-1, to the Lakers before Barkley retired in 2000.
Charles Barkley on why Lakers' LeBron James isn't MJ or Kobe
NBA analyst Charles Barkley never shies away from strong takes on Lakers All-Star LeBron James' career and the contrast he sees between the Hall of Fame players that came before him. While reminding everyone it's not a knock on James, Barkley revealed the key difference between LeBron and Hall of Fame guard Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, per Yahoo Sports.
“The three best players I’ve ever seen were, Michael, Kobe, and LeBron,” Barkley said. “And I’ll tell you the difference in the three. Michael and Kobe are dangerous, they will kill your a–. LeBron’s a nice guy. And that’s not a knock. He’s still great, great, great, but he’s a nice guy.”
"[LeBron James is] on the downside of his career. It's Luka's [Doncic] team going forward. But hey, they got bigger problems than those guys."
Charles Barkley on James' place within the Lakers 🗣️
(via @YahooSports)pic.twitter.com/mGJTpM0eLB
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) July 14, 2025
It'll be interesting to see how things unfold for James this upcoming season, as he enters the final year of his deal with the Lakers.
