Sunday Night Iron Bowl Disappointment Leaves NBA Legend Charles Barkley Disenchanted With Alma Mater

The Iron Bowl never disappoints, but the same can’t be said when you were once a student on the losing team. Sunday’s showdown between the Auburn Tigers and Alabama Crimson Tide marked the 10th anniversary of the Kick Six. After Auburn’s fall in the hands of Alabama 24-27, many people were left devastated over the loss, including NBA legend Charles Barkley. 

The former Philadelphia 76ers forward hides nothing when it comes to his love for the state of Alabama, but where Auburn is concerned, he is a full-fledged supporter of his former college. After losing the last rivalry game against the Crimson Tide, Charles Barkley unleashes the pressure on his chest. 

Charles Barkley gets real with Iron Bowl disappointment

On a recent YouTube episode by The Steam Room, the 11-time NBA All-Star began his display of disappointment by saying that Auburn’s loss to Alabama is the “bitter part.” According to him, the last Iron Bowl defeat shattered him as badly as when Virginia defeated Auburn 62-63 in the NCAA Final Four basketball tournament. While he agrees that it was a “great college football,” he stated, “Auburn blew the game.”

Chuck pointed out what went wrong in the last rivalry game saying, “If you go back and look now, I won the punt and we don’t fumble the punt, they don’t get the ball and then fourth-and-31.” Alabama QB Jalen Milroe threw a fourth-and-31 pass to WR Isaiah Bond which led to the Crimson Tide winning the Iron Bowl for the fourth straight time since 2020. As of now, Alabama leads the rivalry series 50-37-1 in their 88 meetings since their first meeting in 1893 where Auburn won the first game 32-22.

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Barkley’s support for Auburn is on a whole new level. One of the reasons why he prefers them over Alabama is because of the fans. The NBA MVP said in an interview, “ Alabama is a great program, I got a lot of friends that played there. You know how much love and respect I have for Coach Saban. But I just hate their fans because they’re obnoxious and entitled.“

Auburn fans are left in dejection after the recent defeat at Jordan-Hare Stadium. The Tigers lost their chance to make it to the championship game. As for Nick Saban and Alabama, they will go on to face the 12-0 Georgia Bulldogs to battle for the SEC Championship on December 3. 

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