“AD… I’m 100 years old”: Charles Barkley on message LeBron James should be relaying to inconsistent Anthony Davis ahead of year 21

Charles Barkley is not the biggest fan of Anthony Davis and usually criticizes him for being injury-prone. With LeBron James entering Year 21 in the NBA, Barkley wants to see the all-time scoring leader put some pressure on Davis to take over and become the LA Lakers' leader.

"AD, I am 100 years old, it is about time for you to be the best player. You are into your prime," Charles Barkley said during an appearance in the Bill Simmons podcast, mentioning what message LeBron James should send to Anthony Davis.

Simmons and Barkley also said that Davis is not close to being considered the best player in the league, with the Hall of Famer naming "killer instinct" as the one element that the big man is lacking.

Charles Barkley on the Lakers: "At some point LeBron gonna have to say 'AD... damn... I'm 100 years old. It's about time for you to be the best player.' " byu/WhenMachinesCry innba

Anthony Davis has been injury-prone ever since he joined the Lakers in the summer of 2019. He has missed several games due to injuries and the last time he appeared in 65 or more games was back in 2018.

Charles Barkley doesn't believe the Lakers will be title contenders next year unless Anthony Davis is in the MVP conversation

The LA Lakers were one of the most active teams in the offseason and bolstered their roster with several decent moves.

They kept their core together with Rui Hachimura, Austin Reaves, Jared Vanderbilt, and D'Angelo Russell signing contract extensions, while they brought Cabe Vincent, Christian Wood, and Cam Reddish as role players. At the same time, Davis agreed to a three-year, $186 million extension that will keep him with the team until 2028.

And with LeBron James returning for his 21st year in the league, the Lakers should be a legit title contender this year after reaching the Western Conference Finals last year.

However, Charles Barkley believes the franchise will be in a position to fight for the title only if Davis is at an MVP level.

“Sometimes, when sports and the games are close, you are like, man, we are close, but the Lakers aren’t. Now, it will be interesting about all the stuff they did; as I said last season, it will all come down to Anthony Davis. If Anthony Davis, as much as I love LeBron, I said last season and two seasons before. The Lakers are not going anywhere if Anthony Davis is not an MVP candidate. The Lakers were lucky to have a great draw in the playoffs, but AD does not have a MVP caliber season; the Lakers are going nowhere," Charles Barkley told Simmons, via Lakers Nation.

Last season, Anthony Davis played in 56 games for the 17-time NBA champions and had averages of 25.9 ppg and 12.5 rpg. The Lakers will need the best version of Davis this year.

If the All-Star big man plays at the standards he played in the Orlando Bubble in 2020 when the Lakers won the championship (averaging 26.2 ppg, 9.4 rpg, and 3.6 apg), then Los Angeles will have a great chance of challenging for the championship.