Charles Barkley had a savage joke for former Golden State Warriors executive Bob Myers on Thursday night.
ESPN and TNT both had TV sets in place for the In-Season Tournament semifinals in Las Vegas on Thursday (each network got to televise one semifinal game). Myers is in his first season as a TV personality for ESPN, while Barkley is a longtime TNT personality. Their respective sets were close enough for the analysts at the competing networks were able to communicate with each other.
Prior to the semifinal game between the Los Angeles Lakers and New Orleans Pelicans, Barkley shouted over to Myers and had a great line.
“I wanna give you credit for jumping off the titanic before it sunk,” Barkley said.
“I have friends over there,” Myers shot back.
“Yeah? You’re going to see them soon!” Barkley responded, implying that those who are currently running the Warriors will soon be fired and have to work in TV.
Charles Barkley: "I wanna give you credit for jumping off the titanic before it sunk."
Bob Myers: "I have friends over there."
Chuck: "Yeah? You're going to see them soon!"
Dubs; Warriors pic.twitter.com/QuR7sZuaFa
— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) December 8, 2023
The Warriors are 10-11 and much has been made about their players falling off. Klay Thompson has struggled to start the year; Draymond Green has served a 6-game suspension; and Chris Paul and Gary Payton II have dealt with injuries.
While we won’t say the days of the Warriors contending for championships are definitively over, it’s obvious that the team is on the back end of their reign of dominance. Myers got out at the right time, just before things started to get bad, and before the tough decisions about some of the core players had to be made. Myers even recognized he wanted to avoid all that.
Barkley saying those things bluntly to Myers’ face is part of what makes the ex-player so great on TV. He’s fearless and says what everyone is thinking but are too afraid to say.
