NBA legend Charles Barkley has taken a thinly-veiled shot at his contemporaries at ESPN.

Barkley has made it clear that he does not think the LA Lakers and Golden State Warriors have any legitimate postseason hopes.

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Charles Barkley took a shot at ‘the idiots at the other network’Credit: TNT

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The Inside the NBA host appeared to be talking about ESPNCredit: TNT

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Barkley does not think the Los Angeles Lakers have a playoff hopeCredit: Getty

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He also played down the Golden State Warriors’ chancesCredit: Getty
And the Inside the NBA host blasted the “idiots on the other network” who keep hyping up the faltering superstar teams.

Barkley did not specifically say who he was criticizing but it seems clear that he was taking a pot shot at ESPN.

The likes of Stephen A. Smith and Shannon Sharpe have continued to talk up the Lakers and Warriors’ chances on First Take in recent weeks.

“The West is going to go down to the wire. It’s going to be fun,” Barkley said on Inside the NBA on Thursday.

“The idiots on the other network keep talking about the Lakers and the Warriors like they have a chance.”

And it seems their only hope of playing the playoffs is through the Play-In Tournament.

Barkley is clearly not a fan of the new competition.

“The play-in’s not a real thing, just for the record,” Barkley added.

“That’s just something we made up, Shaq. Just like the CBI Tournament.”

“You already in college basketball mode,” Kenny Smith responded, referring to Barkley’s upcoming March Madness broadcasting duties.

“We’re just making up stuff!” Barkley replied.

“They should thank Adam Silver for making up some stuff.

“‘Hey, let’s just add a couple of teams to the playoffs so the Lakers and Warriors can get in’.”

Many NBA fans were divided by Barkley’s hot take.

“The lakers were literally in the conference finals last year?” one fan said.

“Miami made the finals last year from the play-in,” another said.

“I guess the lakers & heat making it to the the wcf & finals didn’t happen last year,” a third noted.