Anthony Davis is without question one of the most dominant players in the NBA when healthy, but staying on the court is something he has struggled with throughout his career. Charles Barkley clearly has no sympathy for the Los Angeles Lakers star.
During TNT’s halftime coverage of the Lakers-Suns game on Tuesday night, Barkley declared that L.A. has no chance of winning this series “without Street Clothes.” We capitalized “Street Clothes” because Barkley was using it as a name for Davis.
Barkley, of course, was referring to the fact that Davis is injured so often. The harsh shot at Davis drew a round of awkward laughs from Chuck’s TNT colleagues.
Davis missed 30 consecutive games during the regular season at one point with what the Lakers described as a calf strain. He exited in the first half of Game 3 against the Suns after hyperextending his knee and did not return. The All-Star big man then injured his groin in Game 4 and was unable to play in Game 5 on Tuesday.
Once again, we saw how important Davis is to the Lakers, as they were blown out 115-85 by the Suns. The loss was so bad that LeBron James recreated his infamous playoff stunt from last year.
You never want to question the legitimacy of a player’s injury, but is sounds like Barkley feels Davis is not doing everything he can to suit up.
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