Charles Barkley Trolls LeBron, Lakers With Broom After Nuggets Take 3-0 Series Lead

The Los Angeles Lakers have found themselves in a tough spot — down 0-3 to the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs. And Charles Barkley isn't pulling any punches about it.

The Nuggets took down the Lakers, 112-105, Thursday night at Crypto.com Arena. Now, LeBron James & Co. are just one game away from elimination. But according to Barkley, this one's already over. On the NBA on TNT post-game show, Chuck pulled out the broom as he predicted a series sweep.

"Leave ‘the king’ alone, man," his co-hosts jeered. "'The king' don't deserve this."

Barkley responded: "'The king' going home after one more game."

Big man Anthony Davis carried the load for LA with 33 points, 15 rebounds and three assists, but it still wasn't enough to overcome a balanced offensive attack from the second-seeded Nuggets. Meanwhile, James finished with 26 points, nine assists and six rebounds in Thursday's loss.

And then he took his sweet time getting to the post-game press conference.

"Are we just gonna stay on TV until LeBron comes out the shower? Because you know, we got stuff to do," Barkley said while waiting for comments from the Lakers superstar. "It’s 1:19 [a.m. ET]. Are we just gonna sit here until LeBron — LeBron, get your ass out the shower."

Once he did finally get out of the shower, LeBron had a positive outlook.

"It’s one game at a time at this point," James said. "… As long as you still have life, then you always have belief, you play until the wheels fall off. That’s what it’s always about for me as a mindset."

But Barkley isn't buying it.

"I just wanna say, all you people who’ve been kissing up to the Lakers and the Warriors all year, talking about, ‘They’re gonna make a run,'" Barkley said. "You know where they’re gonna run their ass to? The Bahamas, Sunday morning. I told y’all all along."

The Lakers will fight for their playoff lives on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET in a win-or-go-to-the-Bahamas scenario.