Skip Bayless is at it again. Despite the overwhelming mountain of evidence saying we should ignore people who clearly just say things for attention, Bayless has decided to make round one of the NBA playoffs about his distaste for Damian Lillard.

Despite Bayless’s mediocre high school sports career, he’s still trusted to speak on behalf of sports fans. In game one of the Lakers-Blazers series, Lillard carried the Blazers to a victory against LA and Bayless was quickly eating his words… with some help from Charles Barkley.

What Charles Barkley said to Skip Bayless

As NBA on TNT recapped the game, Barkley seemed to take any opportunity possible to rub Bayless’s incorrect prediction in his face. At one point, he spoke directly to Skip. After the rest of the panel continued to try to discuss the game, Barkley steered the conversation to his nemesis again. Saying (per Essentially Sports), “I hope y’all heard that, America. Skip Bayless, take that with your punk ass.”

It’s interesting that Bayless has chosen to side against Lillard and the Blazers here, given that he’s spent so much time criticizing LeBron James (generally with no basis in fact). James has proven himself time and time again, but Bayless keeps going back to the well because it gets attention. Bayless is likely just waiting for the Lakers to defeat Portland so he can go back to bagging on James.

The Blazers ultimately lost the battle

Barkley is confident in the Blazers, and it seems to have some good reason behind it. Of course, there’s no way anyone thinks the Blazers are favored against the #1 seed Lakers. But that doesn’t mean that they can’t win, and it makes total sense for Barkley to back them in this spot.

Game 1 showed that the Lakers can be beaten, and Lillard was the best player in the bubble by a mile before the playoffs started. Unfortunately for the Blazers, after the first game, the Lakers really locked in.

Behind the leadership of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the Lakers cruised relatively easily to the NBA Finals.

The Lakers are looking like NBA champions

LeBron James has again proven why he’s the best player in the league. With the Lakers up 3-1 over the Miami Heat in the finals, another championship for James seems just around the corner.

If history has taught us anything, Skip Bayless will do his best to minimize this championship for James. Despite the uniqueness of this season, this championship would hold tremendous weight not just for James, but for the entire city of Los Angeles.