“Chuckster, you sucked the joy out of Warriors for winning Game 4!”: When Ernie hilariously confronted Charles Barkley as 2007 Mavericks went down 1-3 to ‘We Believe’

Charles Barkley was flabbergasted at the Dallas Mavericks going down 1-3 to the 8th seeded Golden State Warriors in 2007. 

Charles Barkley had had quite a great relationship with Dirk Nowitzki throughout the latter’s years in the NBA. It all started with the German native becoming obsessed with Chuck in his early teenage years upon witnessing him lead the 1992 Dream Team in scoring alongside NBA greats like Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson. 

Dirk even started to wear the number 14 on his jersey to honor Charles Barkley. As his time to get drafted into the NBA was approaching, he got the opportunity to play against both Chuck and Scottie Pippen, two idols of his, in an exhibition. Here, he would shock Team USA by dropping 52 points on them as a teenager.

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The Rockets superstar was so astonished by this that he reached out to Dirk and told him that if he needed help in getting recruited to colleges, he would put in a good word for him. This is where their relationship began off the court. 

So, it’s no surprise that Chuck was a big fan of the Dallas Mavericks when Dirk Nowitzki was playing for them. 

Charles Barkley on the Mavericks going down 1-3 to the Warriors. 

The 2007 Dallas Mavericks were the number seed in the Western Conference. Dirk Nowitzki had won his first and only regular season MVP and it felt as though this was their year after losing 4 straight games in the NBA Finals the year prior. 

Unfortunately for them, they ran into Baron Davis and the Golden State Warriors in the first round. The 8th seeded Warriors were dubbed the ‘We Believe’ Warriors for their gutsy play and they showcased this perfectly after beating the Mavericks in merely 6 games in the first round, as an eighth seed.

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After Game 4 of that series however, Charles Barkley took to ‘Inside the NBA’ looking as defeated as ever after the Mavs lost, going down 1-3. He was wearing a classic Dirk jersey and simply said that Golden State declared war on him and if they don’t do right by him, nothing good is going to happen for them.

This of course, was not the case as Matt Barnes and company blew them out in Game 6 to close out the series. 

Fast-forward to today and Charles Barkley is still riding with the Mavericks as they are also down 1-3 to the Golden State Warriors.