Charles Barkley guaranteed that the Sacramento Kings will defeat the Los Angeles Lakers or Golden State Warriors in the playoffs on Inside the NBA.
The Sacramento Kings were once considered the face of ineptitude in professional sports, as they had gone 16 consecutive seasons without making it to the playoffs. The last time they had made it to the playoffs was in 2006, when they lost in six games to the San Antonio Spurs in the first-round.
But now, they clinched their postseason berth and have a chance to secure the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference entering Friday, Apr. 7. This occurred under the first season with new head coach Mike Brown, who had spent 2016 until 2022 as an assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors.
On Thursday night on TNT’s Inside the NBA, Basketball Hall of Famer and analyst Charles Barkley gave his usual “guarantees,” this time for the playoffs. Barkley said that the Kings would not only win a playoff series, but they would defeat either the Los Angeles Lakers or Warriors.
Charles Barkley ‘guarantees’ Kings will beat Lakers or Warriors in playoffs
Barkley continued, where he set his focus on the Lakers, saying that they aren’t going to make a run. While Kenny Smith tried to make a case for the Lakers, Barkley brought up how Clippers star Kawhi Leonard “ran them out of the building” during this past Wednesday’s game.
In the aforementioned game, Leonard scored 25 points while making 9-of-17 shots from the field and 4-of-7 shots from the three-point line in the Clippers’ 125-118 win.
The Kings will realistically play either the Lakers or Warriors in the first round. If they are the No. 3 seed, they will know who their opponent will be once the regular-season ends. But if they are the No. 2 seed, they will have to wait and see who wins the No. 7 vs. No. 8 game in the play-in tournament. The latter works in their favor, as no team that has made it out of the play-in tournament, won a playoff series.
Entering Friday night, the Warriors sit in the No. 6 spot in the Western Conference with a 42-38 record, while the Lakers are in the No. 7 spot with a 41-39 record. Golden State is set to face, ironically, the Kings, while the Lakers face the Phoenix Suns.
It may be their first playoff appearance in 17 years, but Barkley is confident that they can make it out of the first round against either the Lakers or Warriors.