The NFL playoffs fever has taken over American sports and the effect of it was felt on Inside the NBA as well. This was after legendary coach Bill Belichick made an appearance on Steam Room with Ernie Johnson and Charles Barkley. Coach Belichick revealed during his interview that he used to run a play called ‘Charles Barkley’ with the Patriots.
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Needless to say, the Inside the NBA crew tried to execute the play on-air. However, it didn’t go as well as one would’ve hoped for, especially since it’s named after Sir Charles.
Belichick revealed that the Patriots used to run the play “at least once a game, in key situations usually.” The play includes a hard fake to the running back to get the linebackers closer to the scrimmage line. Then Rob Gronkowski as an in-line tight end would run a quick route over the middle of the field.
A simple yet effective play turned into a laugh riot at the TNT studio when the group of Johnson, Chuck, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kenny Smith tried it. On the first attempt, Barkley fumbled an easy pass from Johnson and provided a burst of good laughter to everyone on the set. He did catch the pass on the second attempt and completed the sequence.
The Guys ran Bill Belichick's "Charles Barkley" play in the studio 🏈
It went as well as you'd imagine 😂 pic.twitter.com/e7SHNIRTky
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) January 17, 2025
On the third and final attempt, the pass was so far ahead of Chuck that he couldn’t even get close to it. He was blocked by Shaq on his way and tried to call a pass interference foul on the big fella. This led to even more laughter in the room.
Although Barkley missed two out of three, he can still take pride in the fact that he has a play named after him. Not many people can flex with something like that.
During his Steam Room appearance, coach Belichick revealed that he named the play ‘Charles Barkley’ as an honor to the NBA legend because they are good friends.
