Charles Barkley couldn’t believe the lack of Nuggets love after sweeping L.A.
May 24, 2023, 9:56 AM | Updated: May 25, 2023, 10:18 am
There’s been plenty of disrespect around the Nuggets all year from the the national media.
The two most famous examples were ESPN’s Mark Jackson leaving Nikola Jokic off his MVP ballot entirely, and sideline reporter Lisa Salters admitting she hadn’t seen Jokic play.
You’d think that would’ve changed after Denver swept the Lakers on Monday night to advance to the NBA Finals, but it really didn’t.
ESPN focused pretty much solely on LeBron James and some flimsy retirement rumors, even just hours after the game ended.
#bringitin pic.twitter.com/zQz9tYOw6S
— Jesse Hayward (@skohayward5) May 23, 2023
The next morning, it got even more preposterous, as Brian Windhorst said the Lakers were the best team he’s ever seen get swept. It’s a sentence that’s almost hard to wrap your mind around as not being a parody.
“I’m not sure I’ve seen a more impressive performance in a sweep, ever.”
That is quite the take… about the losing team 🤦🏼♂️
pic.twitter.com/YXwJSr1cC7— Will Petersen (@PetersenWill) May 23, 2023
There were countless examples of this throughout the day, and on Tuesday night, TNT’s Charles Barkley had enough. After the Celtics beat the Heat to force a Game 5, Barkley went off on when he felt was a slight to to the Nuggets.
"I was so mad this morning I actually turned the TV off. Because the Denver Nuggets sweep, get to the finals for the first time… We all love LeBron, he didn't say he was retired yet… But it should've been all about the Denver Nuggets."
— Charles Barkleypic.twitter.com/WBuWAv4bs4
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) May 24, 2023
As usual, Chuck nails it. Rather than focus on the team on a historic playoff run in Denver, the obsession with the Lakers simply couldn’t be put aside. Jokic is doing things we’ve never seen before in the postseason, and it feels like somewhat of an afterthought.
Barkley was the voice of reason, as he almost always is. And he’s also made it clear he wants to play golf in the Mile High City, even putting Peyton Manning on notice.
Well, Manning has accepted the hosting responsibilities, and Barkley is (of course) welcome whenever.
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