The Thunder built on last season’s emergence and turned it into current dominance behind an elite defense and the perfect roster. The Thunder’s rotation has been intentionally put together and looks nearly flawless on paper.

Barkley blasted ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins by name, calling him “an idiot and a fool” over a comment he made on NBA Today Wednesday about the Lakers “saving the NBA” by trading for Luka Doncic.

My thing is don’t play with me like that. I am the smoke,” Perkins told me. “I don’t come up with the topics on ESPN and I don’t produce the shows. That’s not my job. My job is to give my