Charles Barkley appeared on The Jim Jackson Show Podcast to speak about the current NBA landscape. While talking about the Boston Celtics’ chances of repeating as champions, he brought up Kristaps Porziņģis’ injury.
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The NBA Hall of Famer showed concern for Porzingis as he recovers from a significant leg injury. Barkley said,
“The Porzingis thing is worrying, the Porzingis thing is worrying. You know, he’s going to miss half the season. So, that’s something to think about, that’s something to really think about.”
Barkley hit the nail on the head with his concerns over the Celtics’ big man. The team will suffer without their star center, especially considering the nature of his injury and the long recovery period.
Porzingis suffered a torn retinaculum and dislocated posterior tibialis tendon in his left leg during Game 2 of the Finals. He played through the pain but required surgery following the postseason. In June, the Celtics announced that their big man would return in 5-6 months, signaling a potential December comeback.
Although the Latvian center was limited to three appearances in the NBA Finals, he made the most of those games. During Game 1 of the Finals, Porzingis scored 20 points and grabbed six rebounds in just 16 minutes. Despite averaging only 12.3 ppg over the entirety of the Finals, this Game 1 performance set the tone.
This allowed the Boston Celtics to take advantage and dominate the Dallas Mavericks in five games. Although the team managed to win the NBA Finals convincingly, they do look different without Porzingis on the court. Charles Barkley pointed this out on the night the Celtics’ big man got injured.
Charles Barkley thinks the Celtics play very differently without Porzingis
The legendary power forward stressed that the team plays very differently without the 7-foot-2-inch center, adding that the big man was the Celtics’ only shot-blocker and post-up player.
Porzingis tallied 1.9 blocks per game during the regular season and managed to snag the odd steal at times as well. His ability to stretch the floor while also dominating the paint is underrated. He showed flashes of these skills during the postseason as well.
The Celtics will miss their star big man for the foreseeable future, with a December return planned. As Charles Barkley rightly said, it is something the team will have to think about as the 2024-25 regular season nears.
