NBA legend Charles Barkley has seldom refrained from voicing his opinions loud and clear. This mindset of the 1993 MVP has helped him in his iconic journey to become America’s favorite NBA analyst. However, the Chuckster has also landed in trouble due to his outspoken attitude. NBA fans are used to seeing Barkley going back and forth with NBA players and talking heads on different shows. Recently, Charles Barkley got entangled in a heated altercation with a Rockets legend on live television over a ‘ridiculous’ comparison.

The Denver Nuggets-Phoenix Suns matchup promises to be a thrilling contest for the hoops community. However, the Western Conference heavyweight clash prompted another clash between Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith during a TNT broadcast.

Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith get into a heated altercation on NBA on TNT

 The Inside the NBA crew weighed in on the Nuggets-Suns Semi-Finals matchup during a recent broadcast. Kenny Smith, however, lost his cool when the panel came across a match-up comparison. In the ‘big man matchup’ card, Suns star Deandre Ayton was compared to Nuggets centerpiece Nikola Jokic. While, the rest of the crew maintained their cool, Kenny Smith expressed his shock at the comparison.

According to the two-time NBA champion, Deandre Ayton should not have been compared with Nikola Jokic. “Just stop it man. You’re killing me with this…He’s[Ayton] never gonna matchup with him[Jokic]…That’s not a fair comparison, a guy who touches the ball 80 percent of the time on each possession to a guy who touches the ball 20 percent of the time… you can’t compare it,” said Kenny Smith.

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“That’s ridiculous,” he added. However, Barkley was not willing to agree with Kenny Smith.

Unlike Smith, the former Philadelphia 76ers star did not think that the Deandre Ayton- Nikola Jokic comparison was ridiculous. Sir Charles’ only problem with the Phoenix Suns star was that the latter was not getting double digit rebounds. When Barkley constantly interrupted Smith’s tirade on the comparison, the former Rockets guard said that a player like Kevin Durant should have been there in the ‘big man matchup’. “Who is counting Kevin Durant, let me see, I don’t look at stats,” Smith said.

The Chuckster lost his cool following Smiths’ remark. “You do look at stats, you always look at stats. Stop lying on TV,” Barkley fired back at Smith. Eventually, Ernie Johnson had to step in, as usual, and pacify the situation, allowing both parties to cool down.

The sensational matchup

Though Kenny Smith disregarded the Ayton-Jokic matchup, Ayton had once famously held his ground against the 2x-MVP. The Suns and the Nuggets locked horns in the same stage of the playoffs in the 2020-21 season. Nikola Jokic and co. were ousted by the Phoenix Suns in the series. Besides, Deandre Ayton had made things extremely difficult for Nikola Jokic.

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Now the Nuggets look better poised to compete. Besides, Nikola Jokic has a clear edge over Deandre Ayton. The 2x-MVP led the Nuggets with 39 points in Game 2. Now that the matchup gave way to a fight between Barkley and Smith, fans will be closely eyeing the next meeting of the Suns and the Nuggets.

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