Charles Barkley compares paying to watch the Lakers to ‘robbery’

Inside the NBA isn’t a flawless program, but it’s fair to say it’s probably still the best NBA postgame show on the air right now. Part of the reason people have developed a fondness (and in some cases the opposite of that) for Charles Barkley and company is how TNT always lets him, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson run even if a segment is rapidly going off the rails.

Sometimes that tendency results in strong moments for the show, and sometimes it gets them in trouble, but on Thursday night it was certainly the former.

When asked to read a promo for the opportunity to watch the Los Angeles Lakers’ game against the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night using NBA League Pass for less than the cost of a movie ticket, Barkley still couldn’t bring himself to do so.

Instead, he compared it to the United States stealing things from Native Americans and highway robbery, because he’s Charles Barkley and that’s what he does:

If you want to watch the game despite that plug, you can do so at 5:00 PST on Spectrum Sportsnet.

Harrison Faigen is co-host of the Locked on Lakers podcast (subscribe here), and you can follow him on Twitter at @hmfaigen.