Charles Barkley Calls 76ers Soft, Mentally Weak: They're the Browns of the NBA

During Inside the NBA on Thursday, Charles Barkley simultaneously threw shade at two teams in two different leagues.

Barkley called the Philadelphia 76ers the "softest, mentally weakest team" and likened his old team to the NFL's Cleveland Browns.

The Sixers have fallen well short of expectations this season. They're riding a three-game losing streak and sit sixth in the Eastern Conference at 31-20.

Earlier this week, forward Al Horford, a first-year 76er, alluded to some issues in the locker room:

Center Joel Embiid was a little more specific in outlining his frustration.

"Spacing is an issue," he told reporters. "Sometimes we play fast, sometimes we play slow. But at the end of the day, when you think about it and as we try to get ready for the playoffs, the game slows down. It becomes a half-court game, and that's where we struggle the most. So hopefully we do a better job the next few games."

Comparing the Sixers to the Browns is apt in that Cleveland had the talent to make the NFL playoffs, with  Baker Mayfield, Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry on offense and a defense headlined by Myles Garrett. Instead, the Browns won six games and missed the postseason for the 17th straight season.

While the 76ers would need really the bottom to fall out of the top eight in the East, anything less than a run to the conference finals will be a disappointment.

That could be where the team is headed unless things improve.