Will Lakers Still Hang In-Season Tournament Banner After Charles Barkley's Threats?

This week it was announced the Los Angeles Lakers would be hanging a banner to celebrate becoming the first-ever champions of the NBA In-Season Tournament. It was noted it would not look the same as their many other championship banners, but that didn't stop the cascade of jokes and criticism from flowing. Many, fans and pundits alike, are calling the Lakers out for hanging a banner for what is currently an insignificant accomplishment.

Obviously it is lowest-hanging fruit possible. There is almost a 100 percent chance that the Lakers wouldn't hang anything resembling a banner for winning the IST if left to their own devices. The NBA wants teams and the general population to take this seriously. Adam Silver most definitely made a call to the Buss family requesting they hang a banner as to lend it all legitimacy and so other teams follow suit in the future. Everyone calling them out knows that, but it's easier and funnier to get the jokes off than to critically think about why the most storied franchise in the league is perfectly happy to hang a banner in celebration of something that will never be as important as a championship.

Now, however, the Lakers have to reconsider if it's really worth it. Because Charles Barkley made a threat during a Dan Patrick Show spot. He said he'd roast their asses on television if they hung the banner. You read that right-- Charles Barkley threatened to roast a team on camera!

This is something he certainly would not do otherwise, so you know this is coming from a genuine place. Los Angeles should think twice!

It is all very silly, but the fact that the Lakers are doing it means this will be the last time we have this discussion. Somebody else will win it next year and unless it's the Celtics or the Warriors nobody will bother to repeat this tired dialogue about the worthiness of a banner. So in that regard we should be grateful to Los Angeles for getting it all out of the way early.

Can't wait to see Barkley roast them, though. Never heard him tee off on the Lakers before. Definitely not in recent memory. So it'll be a unique experience for us all.