During Saturday night’s edition of Inside the NBA, Charles Barkley explained that he would be getting up to watch Sunday’s USA-Canada Olympic men’s hockey gold medal game at 8 a.m. And he guaranteed that the USA would win.
Charles Barkley: “I gotta get up at 8 o’clock in the morning! We’re going to put an end to this gold medal drought!… GUARANTEED tomorrow morning!” 🏀🏒🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/k0ZXnPUvti
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 22, 2026
While Barkley’s history of guarantees hasn’t exactly led to pristine results, he nailed this one.
The USA came away with a 2-1 victory on a Jack Hughes golden goal in overtime. It’s the first Olympic gold medal in USA men’s hockey since the “Miracle on Ice” team won gold in 1980.
On Sunday, the ESPN on ABC NBA Tip-Off show featuring the Inside the NBA crew opened the program by playing a clip of Barkley’s USA guarantee. That was followed by roughly two minutes of discussion about the gold medal victory.
And Barkley, an avid hockey fan, even had on a USA hockey sweater.
“I’m thinking most of America was doing the same thing this morning,” host Ernie Johnson said.
“Incredible,” Barkley said. “You know, Ernie, when you have an incredible game, and it lives up to the hype; shout out to the Canadians, but congratulations to the Americans.”
“Man, that was worth getting up for,” Barkley continued. “I was screaming all by myself!”
‘Inside the NBA’ opens with Charles Barkley’s guarantee, and he has on a USA hockey sweater.
“Man, that was worth getting up for. I was screaming all by myself!” 🇺🇸 https://t.co/FYtrUGRjJo pic.twitter.com/tgQoDN30Va
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 22, 2026
“I can tell just from your voice,” Johnson said.
“My man, Connor Hellebuyck,” Barkley said.
“That’s Jack Hughes with the game-winner,” Johnson added.
“Yes, but Hellebuyck kept them in the game,” Barkley explained.
“Oh, he was ridiculous,” Johnson agreed. “There were so many shots. And Hughes lost a tooth or two in that game.”
“It was worth it,” Barkley responded.
Barkley also took a moment to recognize Johnny Gaudreau, who was killed by a drunk driver while on a bicycle in August 2024. The USA hockey team paid tribute to him and showed love for his family after the gold medal victory.
“Shoutout to Johnny Gaudreau and his family,” Barkley said. “Rest in peace… That was cool of them to have that jersey there, and his family was there also.”
“Brought the babies there also,” Johnson said. “It was great.”
Shaquille O’Neal made it clear that he did not watch any of the game, and Kenny Smith admitted to sleeping in as well.