The Los Angeles Lakers’ attempt to close out their first-round series against the Houston Rockets has hit a significant wall. That’s given significant ammo to Charles Barkley, who went from writing off the Lakers to calling time on Houston to once again dismissing the Lakers’ postseason hopes. The root cause, he claims, is the physical decline of 41-year-old LeBron James. Chuck’s little faith in aging superstars is not limited to calling the Warriors old and cooked. He believes LeBron’s age is infecting his teammates who had not even been in the NBA for most of his championship career.

Following the Lakers’ 99-93 loss in Game 5, which trimmed their series lead to 3-2, Barkley argued on Inside the NBA that James’ diminishing efficiency is creating a ripple effect that is stifling the team’s role players. “LeBron is wearing down. Let me tell you that,” Barkley stated, almost taunting other analysts who praised James’ early-series performance with a bad imitation.

Sir Charles has dealt with the wear and tear of aging significantly in his playing career and he speaks from experience when he says, “When you get older, the longer the series goes, his efficiency is coming down. And what it’s doing is it’s affecting Luke Kennard and Smart because they’re not getting wide-open shots anymore.”

Barkley’s assessment suggests that as James loses his gravity that usually creates space for the offense, the efficiency of sharpshooters like Luke Kennard and Marcus Smart is evaporating. This lack of  intensity was evident as the Lakers failed to capitalize on their home-court advantage tonight.

A glance at the numbers show Chuck’s theory tracks. The Lakers’ supporting cast has seen a sharp dip in production alongside LeBron. Luke Kennard, who impressed LakeShow with his consistency since his trade, had 27 points in Game 1, 23 in Game 2, 14 in Game 3, an unexplainable 7-point performance in Game 4, and a meager 1-point showing in Game 5. The most jarring evidence of fatigue can be seen in the fact that the sniper has missed 10 straight threes in the last three games.

Marcus Smart’s impact has also turned negative; after recording 9 points and 4 turnovers in Game 4, he struggled with 7 turnovers and a -7 plus-minus in Game 5.

Even LeBron James has not been immune to the ball-security issues, totaling 10 turnovers across the last two games as Houston’s defensive pressure intensifies. Tonight he had the chance to cut the deficit to one point in the closing minutes but it was all squandered by him missing back-to-back threes. Considering he’s struggled from the arc all season, LakeShow online is baffled why he attempted those shots.

While Sir Charles might come across as a hater once more after he made the same warning before tip-off. But he might be putting the Lakers into a sense of urgency in his own way.

Charles Barkley wants the Lakers to panic

When the Rockets were down 3-1, Alperen Sengun said, “We are younger and have more energy.” Tonight, he said, “Nobody is tired.” Clearly the Rockets have caught on to the Lakers’ problem that Charles Barkley is pointing out only now.

LeBron’s unparalleled basketball IQ and his experience might be compensating for declining athleticism. But the longer the series goes, the fatigue is slowing him down. The young and ambitious Rockets team is trying to get their reps in battling King James in the absence of Kevin Durant.

Sengun himself has been provocative to the point he got Bron arguing at the free throw line. James shoved Reed Sheppard in one sequence and he responded with a four-point sequence on the 4x champion’s face.

It was not how anyone expected Game 5 to go when Austin Reaves’ return was announced. But his lack of conditioning was glaring in his 22 points mostly from 12 of 13 free throws. He went a shocking 4-of-16 from the field.

Kenny “The Jet” Smith, a Rockets legend and Lakers sympathizer, tried to give LakeShow some hope for Game 6. “If you’re a Laker fan, you go, ‘Well, Austin Reaves is his first game back. Can he give us the Joel Embiid effect?'” He’s referring to Joel Embiid’s epic 33-point stunner a day ago that helped the 76ers catch up 3-2 to the Celtics only 19 days after an emergency appendectomy. But to get there he had a mediocre performance in Game 4.

Kenny is hoping the same for AR. “He got his feet wet. Now he can say, ‘Hey, I’m myself and I could play a little bit more aggressive and I could take shots and be [the scorer]’ because more he was trying to be a facilitator, but Austin Reaves is a scorer. Let’s be honest. He’s a scorer.”

So Reaves might need the adjustment but Barkley has already sounded the alarms, declaring, “There’s the panic button… I’m telling you can press it right now, Lakers are not going to win Game 6.”

This decline in superstar production is reflected directly in the box score and the Lakers’ struggling offensive sets. As Chuck has indirectly proved, the Lakers don’t have a serviceable young player outside of Luka Doncic to counter the Rockets’ young core. And Kenny has rightfully pointed out that Austin Reaves will have to immediately be that in Game 6.

However, the reality remains that LeBron James’ record-breaking streak of 16 consecutive home wins – a record he built when most of his teammates and the opponents weren’t even in the league – has officially ended. As the series heads back to Houston, the Lakers must find a way to revitalize their aging superstar or face a grueling Game 7 against a Rockets team that Barkley believes has figured them out.