Charles Barkley doesn’t believe in the Warriors because ‘old people’

It didn’t take long for Hall of Famer Charles Barkley to reignite his antagonism against the Warriors.

During the “Inside the NBA” pregame show ahead of the first game of the regular season, the longtime analyst launched into a hot take while discussing Golden State’s opening night matchup against the Phoenix Suns.

“The Warriors are the fourth-best team in California, in my opinion,” Barkley declared Tuesday.

Host Ernie Johnson asked Barkley to elaborate on why he thinks that, to which the former Phoenix Sun retorted with a blunt, “Old people.”

“Old people don’t get better; they just get older,” he continued. “I just don’t like their team going forward. They’ve had a great run, great organization, but the Lakers, Sacramento and the Clippers are all better than the Warriors.”

While it was delivered with his typical Barkley-esque bravado, it’s legitimate to note that all of Dubs’ stars this season are on the wrong side of 30. The team’s big offseason addition may have been a future Hall of Famer in Chris Paul, but he turned 38 in May. Meanwhile, Steph Curry is 35, and Klay Thompson and Draymond Green are 33. There’s some youthful experience on the roster with Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody, who are both 21, but those two are hardly the heirs apparent of this dynasty.

That said, claiming the Warriors will be the fourth-best team in the state is a pretty hot take. None of the four teams in California got exceptionally better this offseason, and they all have notable flaws that could cause problems this season. Just like the Warriors, the Lakers are very dependent on an aging superstar in LeBron James, who will turn 39 in December. The Clippers’ two stars, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, haven’t played 60 games in a season since joining Los Angeles four years ago, and the Kings barely play defense.

Oddsmakers seem to believe that the Kings will be the worst of the four teams. Both the SI Sportsbook and Caesars have the California teams stacking up as Warriors, Lakers, Clippers, then Kings, with the Warriors over-under line at 48.5. The Dubs’ journey to over 48.5 wins this season begins against the Suns on Tuesday at 7 p.m. PT.