Charles Barkley picks the Nuggets to go to the NBA Finals

Charles Barkley has always been a big supporter of the Denver Nuggets.

That hasn’t changed this season for the former NBA star turned media icon.

Barkley and the “Inside the NBA” crew gave their picks for the finals over the weekend and he’s got the Nuggets taking on the Celtics for a championship.

Ernie Johnson felt the same way, while Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny “The Jet” Smith have San Antonio taking down Denver in Round 2 of the playoffs.

The Inside the NBA crew shares their picks for the Finals 👀 pic.twitter.com/PJeWwFxQzD

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) April 19, 2026

Charles Barkley said in May of 2023 that the Nuggets were “clear-cut” title favorites and of course Denver went on to win its first NBA championship.

He also defended the Nuggets after they swept the Lakers that year in the Western Conference Finals. Seemingly all the national media could focus on was L.A. and LeBron James coming up short.

“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,” Barkley said at the time. “But it should’ve been all about the Denver Nuggets.”

Of course, James still hasn’t retired, but even this year it seems like the television networks are featuring the Lakers and Rockets showdown more than the Nuggets and Timberwolves.

Denver is up 1-0 in the series and will look to make it 2-0 later Monday night. The Nuggets path to a title would be a fierce one, going through Minnesota, San Antonio and Oklahoma City in the West, but it’s not impossible.

And right now Charles Barkley and Ernie Johnson are believers. It’ll be up to Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and the rest of the Denver roster to prove them right.

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