$21 Million Earning Charles Barkley’s ‘Embarrassing’ Playoffs Interview Moments Go Viral

Charles Barkley has a penchant to troll fans, players and others, either when he wants to prove a point or when he gets into a pickle.

$21 Million Earning Charles Barkley’s ‘Embarrassing’ Playoffs Interview Moments Go Viral

Charles Barkley had a string of embarrassments on Inside the NBA (Image via FirstSportz)

Charles Barkley usually never speaks with a filter while working on Inside the NBA or whenever he is in public. The Hall of Famer is known for his witty takes and trolls fans, players, and teams whenever he feels like it. All of that help him create a humor based analysis that fans have been accustomed to for more than two decades.

In that period, those humorous takes along with the banter based off the chemistry he has with his co-panelists have helped Inside the NBA win numerous Emmy Awards. Many believe Barkley is the heartbeat of the show, and without his unfiltered ways, they would not be this successful.

However, TNT decided not to bid on the next NBA media rights deal, which meant the show’s production would cease. Fans, along with pleas from other members of the media, saw ESPN broker a deal with TNT to continue broadcasting the show.

No matter how popular the show has been, there have been instances where fans were left shaking their heads. Be it NSFW moments, or cast members crossing the line, or even the extreme criticism of current NBA stars. During their ECF Game 1 coverage, Charles Barkley had another embarrassing moment which caught the attention of fans.

Shai’s cousin, Mackeil Anderson, whatever his name is, Alexander.

Charles Barkley said

The Hall of Famer was trying to talk about how the Minnesota Timberwolves need to play better to stay in the WCF series against the Oklahoma City Thunder. There, when trying to talk about Shai Gilgeous-Alexander‘s cousin, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, he mispronounced the name. This ended up going viral and fans were furious with Barkley.

Charles Barkley turns to trolling to defend his embarrassment

When Charles Barkley mispronounced Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s name, Draymond Green stepped in to correct his mistake. Once he understood the Timberwolves’ star’s first name rhymes with ‘nickel’, he decided to turn it into a troll.

Charles Barkley decided to troll Nickeil Alexander-Walker's name
Charles Barkley decided to troll Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s name (Image via Open Source/X)

Nickeil is not a name. They named him after a coin. C’mon man.

Charles Barkley said

The 62-year-old then joked with colleague Shaquille O’Neal on how many nickels he has. This was his way of building a wall around his mistake and avoiding further controversy by helping the network gain more ratings.

Barkley has had several such instances of pronouncing names wrong. But fans believe that is because he does not watch games, which is why he never hears how commentators pronounce names. Had he watched games, this problem would not have happened.

Charles Barkley does not know the name of a player

Mispronouncing names was just the second instance of Charles Barkley‘s embarrassment on live television in today’s broadcast. Earlier, when talking with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander after winning the MVP award, he said this:

Your depth on your team is incredible. I watched the game last night. Who the hell is number 34 who came out there and started kicking butt? I didn’t see him a lot against Denver.

Charles Barkley said

Gilgeous-Alexander pointed out to forward Kenrich Williams. They all were joking and laughing as Barkley was essentially praising the 30-year-old for putting up a good performance against the Minnesota Timberwolves, even though he did not have much playing time in the playoffs so far.

But it goes to show that the Hall of Famer does not keep track of players in the league. That is not what is usually expected from anyone who works in the same league. When one factors in the $21 million per year TNT pays him to talk about the NBA, the situation should be inexcusable.

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