Charles Barkley
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Former NBA player and current TV analyst Charles Barkley.
Charles Barkley has long been known for his passion and willingness to speak his mind. Both again reared their ugly heads Wednesday night.
The Hall of Fame player turned TNT analyst was caught on a hot mike using a profanity while lamenting the fact that Oklahoma City Thunder forward Luguentz Dort had never qualified for an NBA All-Defensive Team before Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Wednesday.
“Can you believe [Dort] never made an all-defensive team?” Barkley said as TNT was going to commercial. “These guys who vote don’t know what the f— they’re doing,” Barkley said.
‘Have to Change That’
Barkley took time out of his interview with recently announced NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to publicly stumped for Dort, the sixth-year pro whose nickname is “The Dorture Chamber” for his lockdown defense, to get some love.
“Lu Dort has never made an all-defensive team?” Barkley asked Gilgeous-Alexander.
“Yeah, we’re going to have to change that pretty soon,” Gilgeous-Alexander responded.
Barkley went on to call Dort the best perimeter defender in the NBA and was incredulous at the fact he had not been included on the annual list of the best defensive players — TNT guest analyst Draymond Green, himself an eight-time All-Defensive team member and the 2017 Defensive Player of the Year blurted out “that’s crazy,” when Barkley stated that.
“You tell that young guy congratulations and keep doing his thing,” Barkley said to Gilgeous-Alexander.
Led by Dort, the Thunder finished first in the NBA in defensive rating (107.5) and were third in the league in points-against per game (107.6). Oklahoma City is third in the playoffs, allowing just 102.8 points-against per game.
“Without him, we’re not the defense we are, and we all know that,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “The proof is in the pudding, and he’ll get what he deserves pretty soon.”
No Issue With MVP
Even though he complained about Dort’s annual snubbing, Barkley had no problem with voters choosing Gilgeous-Alexander as the first-time MVP winner.
“Well deserved,” Barkley said, after TNT’s Ernie Johnson announced the Thunder leading scorer.
Gilgeous-Alexander and Jokic were Nos. 1 or 2 on all 100 media members final ballots, and Gilgeous-Alexander won by virtue of his 71-29 advantage in first-place votes, which gave him a narrow 917-787 points advantage.
The Thunder superstar’s team just edged out Jokic’s Denver Nuggets in seven games in the Western Conference quarterfinals, and OKC leads the Minnesota Timberwolves 1-0 in the best-of-7 Western Conference Finals.
Barkley had been publicly stumping for Gilgeous-Alexander to win the MVP, even though voting has been closed since the end of the regular season.
“This guy right here [Gilgeous-Alexander] is the MVP,” Barkley said during the NBA on TNT halftime show during Game 2 of Oklahoma City’s series against Denver. “They can already extend it to him. We’re gonna see him in the Western Conference Finals when he gets his MVP trophy.”
With the reigning-champion Boston Celtics out, and the Thunder boasting Gilgeous-Alexander, Dort and a loaded lineup, Barkley also feels they are a lock to bring home their first ever championship since moving from Seattle in 2009.
“This is the deepest team in the NBA,” Barkley said of OKC after the Indiana Pacers’ 138-135 win over the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals. “They are gonna win the NBA championship. … I have not seen any team that can beat this team.”