Never change, Charles Barkley. Never change.
The NBA Finals are currently in full swing, and so far, it’s been one heck of a championship series between the San Antonio Spurs and the New York Knicks. The Knickerbockers stole the first two games of the series on the road, but then the Wembanyama-led spurs went to Madison Square Garden and took Game 3.
With the best-of-seven series now standing at 2-1 in favor of the Knicks, it’s truly anyone’s series ahead of Game 4. There’s a whole lot to break down in terms of matchups, offensive and defensive efficiency, and star power… but all anyone really wants to talk about is what NBA analyst Charles Barkley said on live, national television the other night.
The “Chuckster” always has a lot to say, whether it be with the Inside The NBA program or his podcast that he shares with Ernie Johnson called The Steam Room. Evidently, there’s a lot that goes through Barkley’s head, and one of those things came right out of his mouth during halftime of Game 3 earlier this week.
Inside The NBA was breaking down the first half of the critical contest when they noticed that rapper Cardi B was performing for those inside the arena. They joked that Shaquille O’Neal was a little distracted by the halftime entertainment, and then Charles Barkley took things up a notch by saying this as the ESPN show went to break:
“I don’t know if those B’s. They might be Cardi Ds.”
Boy, oh boy… Sir Charles just doesn’t have a filter, does he?
That’s obviously hilarious, but as you might imagine, it’s stirred up a bit of a “was that okay to say” conversation. While Barkley was a guest on The Dan Patrick Show earlier today, the longtime sports commentator asked the basketball legend about the incident:
“You called Cardi B ‘Cardi D’s.’ Did you (get in trouble?) It was good analysis.”
Excellent journalistic work by Dan Patrick right there.
In classic, Charles Barkley fashion, the “Round Mound of Rebound” didn’t back down or apologize whatsoever. Instead, he joked (?) that he’d love for ESPN to fire him for commenting on Cardi B’s… performance during Game 3 of the NBA Finals.
“They looked like D’s to me, Dan… I’m hoping they fire me. I’ve got 6 or 7 years left on my contract that they know I’ve got no chance of doing. I would love for them to fire me and have to pay me for the next 6 or 7 years. You know, I was talking to my agent, I was like, ‘What can I do to get fired?’ I would love to get fired. I’m not gonna lie. There’s zero chance I’m going to be working the next 6 or 7 years. Zero.”
Sounds like it’s all part of the plan for the Chuckster.
And Barkley have his final thoughts on the matter by insisting that anyone out there that can’t take a joke needs to step right up and… well, I’ll let you hear it straight from Charles:
“C’mon man, if people can’t take a joke, they can kiss my a**… anybody (out there) thinking that everybody likes them, they’re a fool. So if people don’t like me, or don’t have a sense of humor, they can kiss my a**. My whole a**. Not just one cheek.”
Love that.
Game 4 of the NBA Finals airs tonight on ABC, so Charles Barkley and the rest of the Inside The NBA crew will be back at the analyst desk to break down everything that happens in (and around) the game. The good news for the pearl-clutchers out there? The Wu-Tang Clan is the halftime entertainment tonight… so I’d think that Charles Barkley will have a harder time getting himself in trouble.
