“Chuck Should Be Fined $30 Million”: Charles Barkley Calls Out A Lakers Fan After ‘Cursing’ The Pelicans Amid Their 44 Point Loss

Much like the rest of the world, Charles Barkley and the rest of the Inside crew bore witness to the Pelicans’ ugly 44-point loss to LeBron James and the LA Lakers in the Semi-Finals of the In-Season tournament. Admittedly, while many considered the Lakers to be the favorites going into the contest, no one quite expected this.

Charles Barkley in particular was pretty high on the New Orleans Pelicans. In fact, the former NBA man even predicted them to win this contest, and face the Indiana Pacers in the Finals. That said, ‘the Chuckster’s prediction does bring a bit more logic to this astonishing loss.

Loyal fans of TNT’s ‘Inside the NBA’ know that Barkley is notorious for being atrocious with his predictions. In fact nowadays, his ‘guarantees’ are now even considered a bit of a curse on whichever team he chooses to root for.

Going off that, a Lakers fan even suggested that the NBA dock Barkley $30 million for his hex on the Pelicans, after feeling empathetic for the opponents. Responding with nonchalance, however, the following is what Barkley had to say for himself.

“Listen man. You want $30 million? I’ll give you $30 million! I mean, I still have another $30 million in the bank! We’ll be good!”

Ever the humble man, apparently Barkley felt the need to flex his riches, albeit in an admittedly hilarious fashion. That said, Barkley wasn’t nearly as nonchalant when it came to Zion Williamson‘s performance against the Lakers.

Charles Barkley expresses his disappointment in Zion Williamson

Zion Williamson’s numbers from this game were nowhere close to the levels he has set for himself. He recorded just 13 points, two rebounds, and three assists. Worse, for every assist he dished out, he also lost the ball an equal number of times, as he had three turnovers in the contest as well.

During this contest, the Pelicans put the ball in Zion’s hands, giving him the role of a point forward, something that clearly didn’t work. In fact, it brought on a display that was so awful, that Charles Barkley was left beyond livid by it. Here is what he said on the matter, as seen in the X post by ‘NBA on TNT‘.

“The thing that disturbs me is, he’s not a young kid… He’s been in the league long enough. He’s got to guys on his team that are better than him, and they shouldn’t be. He was the number one pick in the draft. he should be a better player than [Brandon] Ingram, we like Ingram, obviously, we love C.J. [McCollum], he [Zion] should be the best player, and he is not even close.”

Admittedly, considering how Williamson failed to impose himself on the game, despite all his gifts, it becomes very difficult to disagree with Charles Barkley. Announcing his agreement with his fellow NBA legend, even Shaquille O’Neal was left unhappy by what he saw. He said the following, as seen in an X post by ‘Oh no he didn’t‘.

“I want to make some points about Zion. [He] Does not run hard. It’s not a diss, it’s going to be a lesson from one great big man to another guy who can be a great big man… I had the same problem my first, second year… My talent gon get me 20! But when I start going to 20,30, and 40, it’s because I started doing certain things.”

O’Neal added further gripes that he had about Zion Williamson’s game.

“He doesn’t create easy points for himself. I saw a couple of times, where he had a couple of guys at the basket. He don’t see ’em! Right? He doesn’t demand the ball. Like if you’ve got a small guy, you talk about all the time, barbeque chicken leg… he doesn’t have that look!”

While there is a lot to criticize here, it is important to remember that Zion is still only 23. This loss and his failure to go as hard as he could have will likely prove to be learning experiences for him. And that in and of itself could be a big deal.

At the end of the day, Williamson has the potential to be the best player in the NBA in the near future, and one of the greatest of all time. If he can find a way to use the 2023 In-Season tournament as a source of motivation, there is likely no limit to what he could do.

That said, the ball is in his court on this one.