Shaquille O’Neal Blames Charles Barkley for Celtics’ Woes on TNT, Jayson Tatum Hilariously Agrees

Maybe Chuck should root for the Boston Celtics silently. He could be jinxing them. Or so Shaq accuses. Too bad Charles Barkley was not around to defend himself when Jayson Tatum was on TNT’s Tuesday edition. He’s one of the reasons Barkley is confident that the Boston Celtics will go far. But it turns out anytime the Celts play on TNT, they disappoint and that’s why Chuck never gets to celebrate them on air.

That’s how Shaquille O’Neal dubbed him, “Bad Luck Barkley,” for what he’s doing to their favorite team. That too in front of Tatum, after he was informed that the Celtics have gone 4-6 on TNT as opposed to 53-9 when not on TNT. That could make an interesting conversation in the Celtics locker room.

Shaq may have convinced Tatum too who said, “It probably got a lot to do with the energy.” And Jamal Crawford, Tatum’s mentor, added, “Charles Barkley got the energy.” He doesn’t mean it in a good way either.

If you’ve kept up, Barkley loved the addition of Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday to a lineup that already boasted Tatum and Jaylen Brown. In fact, Chuck was so enamored that he had poised the Celtics to win this season. But every time Chuck watches from the TNT studio, he’s eating his words. Per Shaq’s allegation, Chuck is the reason.

Charles Barkley blames the Celtics

A month ago, Barkley bluntly asserted that the Celtics aren’t tough enough to win the championship. Tatum obviously didn’t like it. He said that while he respects the NBA veteran for all that he has done for young players, “You don’t always have to agree.” That’s also why Barkley didn’t agree when Tatum called himself the best player in the league.

That’s also the Shaq-Chuck patented tough love talking. He’s still holding a torch for Boston. After the Celts lost 109-115 to the defending champions, Denver Nuggets, Barkley shocked the Inside the NBA panel when he said it would be a “total gag job” and he would be shocked if the Celtics didn’t win the title.

When he made that comment, Tatum was 10th in the league in scoring at 27.1 points per game. So Chuck contends that the Celtics would have to really mess up to not seize the championship. Barkley should now consider if he’s bringing the Celtics’ energy down as Shaq implied. Because they’re good when he’s not watching.

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