The Thursday night semifinals in Las Vegas have paved the way for one of the most exciting collaborations in the NBA world. ESPN and TNT came together with all the banter and laughs to host the In-Season Tournament’s knockout games. Inside the NBA’s Charles Barkley had the ball rolling with his one-liner and he didn’t wait too long in the evening to drop a hammer on James Harden.
This isn’t the first time Barkley has taken a dig at the Los Angeles Clippers star. There are volumes of Harden diss moments on Inside Guys and several other interviews of Chuck. One of the most recent digs came in during the long-standing trade drama to leave the Philadelphia 76ers in the offseason. Following that, the former Sixers star has once again dropped the hammer on the Beard on Thursday.
Charles Barkley takes a hysterical jab at James Harden
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Almost everyone in the NBA world had an opinion on James Harden during the trade drama. And only a few supported the star’s choice to switch teams. Meanwhile, the rest strongly criticized the 10x All-Star for disrupting the eco-system of the league and the franchises involved. Notably, Charles Barkley was one of them who openly went on air to criticize the star.
Moreover, Barkley didn’t have enough of criticizing Harden’s trade and he carried on with it on Thursday. Teaming up with Stephen A. Smith, Chuck dropped a hilarious rumor about the Clippers star’s future trade.
Following the Tyrese Haliburton magic show in the first semi-final game, Chuck had a hilarious update about Harden. Of course, it’s not true. He said, “Woj said Tyrese Haliburton playing so good James Harden wanted to be traded to Indiana,” cracking up both the panels.
Charles Barkley:
"Woj said [Tyrese] Haliburton playing so good James Harden wanted to be traded to Indiana [Pacers]" 😂 pic.twitter.com/ZjZkEA2J5K
— Ahn Fire Digital (@AhnFireDigital) December 8, 2023
The jabs didn’t end with that, as Chuck earlier took a friendly dig at his rival broadcaster A. Smith ahead of the game.
Let’s look into the lead-up to Chuck’s Harden dig.
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Chuck fumes over Harden on live TV
During the trade saga, Harden refused to go to Philly’s practice sessions and didn’t travel along with the team for the opening game against the Bucks. This infuriated Barkley, and he didn’t hold back his thoughts and batted for the Philly fans.
Featuring on TNT, he said, “Harden can’t come back to Philly, the fans aren’t going to have it… This is the third year in a row that James has demanded out. You think a team is going to give him a long-term deal? Hell no!” reported Eurosport.
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What do you make of Charles Barkley’s hilarious dig? Let us know in the comments below.
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