Charles Barkley dropped a bold prediction on Saturday, declaring he was backing the Kings to not only defeat the Warriors on Sunday but to reach the Western Conference finals. His forecast also featured a Kings-Lakers semifinals matchup, which he also declared Sacramento would win.
It didn’t take long for his hot take to fall flat on its face, as Sacramento was out-dueled by Golden State in a 20-point loss during Game 7.
Following Barkley’s extremely wrong prediction, the NBA on TNT Twitter account jumped on the opportunity to troll the 60-year-old. The account posted a hilarious photo of Barkley looking utterly defeated, while including the 120–100 scoreline underneath.
https://t.co/3dJerDeDEJ pic.twitter.com/zOHTtTHsFj
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 30, 2023
Just one day after Barkley publicly declared his support for the Kings, the team was bounced from the playoffs. It seems a 50-point game from Stephen Curry wasn’t something Barkley was anticipating when he declared Sacramento was set to make a deep playoff run.
You know it’s a bad take when your own employer decides to have some fun at your expense. That was the case for Barkley on Sunday, though it’s not likely to be the last bold prediction he fires off throughout the NBA Playoffs.