Philadelphia 76ers Legend Drops Bold Clippers Take

76ers legend Charles Barkley feels confident about the Clippers.

Apr 11, 2025; Sacramento, California, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard James Harden (1) and Sacramento Kings guard Keon Ellis (23) react after no foul was called during the third quarter at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Sunday’s slate has become meaningless for the Eastern Conference. As of Friday night, the standings are set. On the other side of the league, the Western Conference has just three teams locked into the playoffs. There’s a lot riding on many teams' season finale, including James Harden’s LA Clippers.

Heading into Sunday’s slate, the Clippers are 49-32, which places them fifth in the Western Conference. A win over the Golden State Warriors would place the Clippers in a top-five seed. Although they can’t go as high as three at this point, Philadelphia 76ers legend Charles Barkley boldly claims that the Clippers should still be considered a top-two team.

“I’m gonna say something crazy right now. The Clippers might be the second-best team in the West. When healthy—but they’re healthy—Kawhi Leonard is amazing to me, man,” Barkley said this week.

"I'm gonna say something crazy right now" 🤣

Chuck makes a big claim about the second-best team in the West pic.twitter.com/qcy8UxWcLD

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 11, 2025

For a large portion of the season, the Clippers played without Leonard, who was recovering from a physical setback. Former Sixers guard James Harden led the pack and played himself right back into the All-Star conversation after spending the past two seasons outside of that picture.

On a seven-game winning streak, the Clippers will head into the postseason as one of the hottest teams in the NBA. They just need one more win to avoid the Play-In.

After Sunday, anything can happen in the West. The OKC Thunder have been the clear-cut best team all year, but did they gain enough experience last year to make a deeper postseason run?

The second-seeded Houston Rockets finally emerged as a contender once again, but their young roster might bring the same questions the Thunder had surrounding them last season. Then, there’s the LA Lakers, who have two of some of the biggest stars in the NBA, with recent NBA Finals experience on board.

The West is stacked with true threats all around. The Clippers are certainly a team that should be viewed as a true Finals contender. Will they prove to be a top-two contender in the conference, as Barkley states? Only time will tell.