Charles Barkley feels Jayson Tatum is not living up to the label he gave himself. The team that Chuck’s been hyping, the Boston Celtics, lost 109-115 to the Denver Nuggets. In the same game, Tatum made 15 points, 8 assists, and 4 rebounds in 39 minutes. He did not validate his recent declaration that he is the best player in the league.

Fans already roasted Tatum for that. Now it’s Chuck’s turn. After Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith said, “One thing we didn’t see was a huge game from Jayson Tatum,” Charles Barkley agreed with some intensity. “Well, you can’t call yourself the best player in the league, then don’t show up,” the 1993 MVP stated.

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Las month, ESPN’s Malika Andrews asked Tatum to name the best player in the league. He answered in one word- “Myself.” Until last year he was calling Giannis Antetotokounmpo the best. He said Giannis, Nikola Jokic, and Joel Embiid are good. But, “I truly do believe every night I step out on the floor that I’m the best player.” 

NBA fans were not enjoying this spurt of self-confidence. While he’s always carried himself with a quiet gusto, fans demanded a lot more humility from the 5x All-Star. Barkley had not immediately commented on it. He waited until the latest game to see if Tatum would back up the talk.

Charles Barkley and Jayson Tatum keep it respectful

Early in the season, Chuck poised the Celtics as his favorites to win the title. The addition of talents like Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday to a squad with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown made him very confident they could breeze through the playoffs. Despite losing today and Tatum’s subpar performance, Barkley was defensive of them.

He thinks only a major disaster would stop the Celts from winning. “It would be a total gag job because they’ve got everything,” he said about the strong lineup. “I would be shocked if the Celtics don’t win.”

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He’s not getting much consensus on the panel though. Though he was disappointed in Tatum today, Charles Barkley called him and Brown, “two of the best 10 players in the league” with a high chance at winning the 2023-24 title.

This is quite the u-turn. Last month, Chuck said that the Celtics aren’t tough enough to win. Tatum himself responded that while he didn’t agree with Barkley, he holds a lot of “respect” for the NBA veteran. We just have to see if the Celtics’ #0 proves his self-proclaimed best player tag and Chuck’s prediction true.

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