On Tuesday evening, the Boston Celtics suffered arguably their most embarrassing loss of the season (there haven't been many to choose from) with a 22-point blown lead vs the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Celtics found themselves victimized by Cavs' sharpshooter Dean Wade, who outscored Boston by himself in the fourth quarter en route to the comeback victory.
Of course, the loss was just the first time the Celtics had lost since February 1st, but that didn't stop a slew of overreactions from hitting the mainstream media, including perhaps the most unbelievable take that Charles Barkley has ever made.
“I honestly think they should bring [Kristaps] Porzingis off of the bench, personally,” said Barkley on TNT's Inside the NBA, per Dan Greenberg on X, the social media platform formerly referred to as Twitter. “That's just my personal opinion.”
Of course, it should be noted that very few if any viewers are watching Inside the NBA for thoughtful basketball analysis.
But still.
The silence that ensued from Barkley's TNT co-hosts was perhaps the best illustration of just how asinine the suggestion was. A quick look at the end of the Cavaliers loss on Tuesday would reveal that Porzingis was the only source of productive offense for a Celtics' unit that otherwise went stagnant down the stretch. Porzingis' presence alone is the sole reason that the “‘Boston is useless if they aren't making threes” argument is no longer a valid reason to doubt them (although that hasn't stopped many media pundits, including Barkley himself, from spewing that falsehood after every Celtics loss this year).
Thankfully, it is Joe Mazzulla, and not Charles Barkley, who is patrolling the sidelines in Boston.
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