The Charles Barkley curse continues. Barkley has been developing a reputation for missing on all the teams he picks to win in playoff matchups, especially when the Dallas Mavericks are concerned.
Chuck picked the Utah Jazz to beat the Mavericks after the news of Luka Doncic’s injury. The Mavs closed that series out in 6 and then faced the Suns, who Barkley picked to win again. As the Mavs upset Phoenix and made it against Golden State, Barkley decided to believe in Dallas and picked them for the NBA Finals.
This made Chuck extremely unpopular in Golden State, as he has had fans heckle him through every home game of the series. Fans took it a little too far after they eliminated the Mavericks in Game 5 as Barkley was pelted with water bottles and jerseys by fans.
Ernie Johnson "Hey! Chuck! Chuck, sit down man!"
Kenny Smith: "Sit down, Chuck. Sit down Chuck."
Charles Barkley was HEATED after Warriors fans threw shirts and liquids at the NBA on TNT stage 😡pic.twitter.com/PQR1D9hNMW
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 27, 2022
Barkley was smiling for a second after the things were thrown at him, but everyone can tell that this situation could have escalated. Barkley is a bit of a hot-head, which explains why Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson were trying their best to make sure Charles stays calm and doesn’t retaliate. It seems he took it in good humor, even though it was a grossly inappropriate thing to do.
Barkley is not only a basketball legend but also a legendary analyst. It’s not because of his accurate takes, but because he is one of the most entertaining people on TV. Barkley has earned way too much respect from his peers and fans to be treated like this for fan tribalism.
These fans aren’t indicative of the entire Golden State fanbase, but it was a pretty disgusting thing to do. There are very few things in the world that can justify pelting someone while they are doing a show, but an analyst picking against a team for entertainment isn’t even close to being a valid reason.
